Curriculum Specific Subjects

(Year-long)

Entry Quest

Quest is a year-long integrated course combining English and Humanities for Entry students. The English component is a chance to reestablish or brush up on the foundations of English studies. Students will write their own narrative, learn how to study a text and be exposed to many types of literature. They will also have the opportunity to try their hand at debating.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

English as an Additional Language (EAL) students continue to develop language skills in reading, comprehension, writing and oracy needed to meet the requirements of the Victorian F-10 EAL Curriculum. EAL students’ continue to develop plurilingual awareness and integrate their knowledge of multiple languages in a way that enriches their communication and learning in all languages. EAL students learn a new language whilst learning new conceptual and cultural knowledge and skills. Students require time and support to reach significant milestones in this additional language. The EAL curriculum identifies these milestones and informs teaching and learning activities that lead EAL students to them. 

Pre VCE English

Pre VCE English is a preview of what VCE English encompasses. Students will study a range of texts, including novels, short stories and mentor texts. They will analyse and respond personally and creatively to them. They will also analyse issues in the media and present their own opinion in response to an issue. Pre VCE English is recommended for students who are nominally at Year 10, and is a prerequisite for Units 1 and 2 English. 

Pre VCE English Language 

Pre VCE English Language is a semester-long preview of what is delivered in VCE English Language. Through oral presentations, short answer assessments, and expository essays; students will study the subsystems of language and analyse spoken and written discourses from a linguist's perspective. They will also analyse wider academic debates within linguistics. Pre VCE English Language is recommended for nominal Year 10 students, and is a prerequisite for Units 1 and 2 English Language. 

Pre VCE EAL

Pre VCE EAL is a preview of what VCE EAL encompasses. Students will study a range of texts, including novels, short stories and mentor texts. They will analyse and respond personally and creatively to them. They will also analyse issues in the media and present their own opinion in response to an issue.  Pre VCE EAL is recommended for students who are nominally at Year 10, and is a prerequisite for VCE Units 1 and 2 English (EAL). 

Above Entry Electives

(Semester-long)

A range of electives are offered in Above Entry English. Electives are grouped into text-based subjects and language-based subjects, and all electives run for 1 semester. Subjects are predominantly for students in Years 8 and 9 but are also open to students from Year 7 and Year 10 who wish to complete an additional English subject. Typically, Above Entry students will complete 4 electives over 2 years before going into Pre VCE English at year 10. Students must include a minimum of 1 text-based and 1 language based elective. It is recommended that students have an equal distribution in order to be better prepared for VCE.

Text-based Electives

The Pen and the Sword

In The Pen and The Sword, students study a range of texts that revolve around significant periods of conflict in Modern twentieth century History. Students study texts that are both prescribed and of their own choice from both the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America. They examine character, plot development, structure and language, and explore context, themes and purposes of a range of texts. Students focus on analytical and creative skills, presenting in both written and oral forms. Historical fiction studied in this subject may contain thought-provoking and mature themes which are more suitable for AE9 and 10 students.

Growing Up

This subject examines the Coming of Age genre through a combination of written and multi-modal texts. Exploring the ideas of identity and belonging, students will look at how the individual, relationships and community shape who we become in our most formative years. Students will produce a range of analytical, comparative and creative responses to the texts studied. 

Texts through Time

This subject explores the expansive world of multimodal texts. Students explore and examine texts through time from classic Shakespearean plays to contemporary media texts such as TikToks and memes. Through modern Australian poetry and picture stories, students delve into our country’s history of colonisation, loss and hope. In this subject students generate a range of student-led writing, with a focus on how quality writing considers audience, purpose and context. Ultimately students learn how to be experimental writers and develop their own personal writing voice and style in the backdrop of texts through time.    

Reading the Future

The purpose of speculative fiction is to ask ‘what if...’ and imagine the answer. In this subject, you will examine how science fiction has challenged and continues to challenge our ideas about our own society by wondering what could happen in the future. Students will read and analyse a range of science fiction and the ideas presented in it. They will explore how science fiction is used to ponder ethical dilemmas, propose the outcomes of serious world issues and question the impacts of an increasingly technologically based society.  

Language-based Electives

Writers' Hub

For aspiring authors, Writers’ Hub will examine different elements, genres,  forms and styles of creative writing and learn to emulate and adapt these features to produce their own creative and expository texts. The subject will explore short fiction, poetry, reviews and non-fiction, as well as introduce students to elements of written analysis. Students will have the opportunity to try their hand at a variety of state-wide and national writing competitions. Guided by student interest, parts of the course content and outcomes can be negotiated.  

Throw, Catch, Write: The Language of Sport

This subject will examine the way people discuss the world of sport, from the die-hard fans to the athletes themselves. Students will examine modes of discussion and writing about sports such as sports journalism, commentary and biography. Students will analyse the way society responds to issues related to sport and will have the opportunity to engage in debates around the world of sports by creating their own multi-modal opinion pieces. 

Taking a Stand 

This subject will examine current events and issues and how community, national and global issues are portrayed in the media. Students will examine a range of contemporary issues and investigate how language is used to persuade in different texts. Students will also investigate a contemporary persuasive campaign, and use this knowledge to create and present their own persuasive campaign on a chosen issue. Students will complete text types such as speeches, podcasts, blogs and debates in response to the issues studied.

English-ology

In this subject, students are introduced to the basics of linguistics and are taught how to break down the language to its most basic ingredients. Students look at how people actually use language, the difference between spoken and written forms, and analyse discourses on a linguistic level. Students also learn about how we learn language and the importance of language for all people. This is a pathway subject with a view to introducing Unit 1 to 4 English Language.