Warners Bay High School

Quality Education for All

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Emailwarnersbay-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

English wrap-up

10 Apr 2025

It's always busy in English and this term has seen some great new books and some fantastic programs being run. Read below to find out what's been going on.

Year 7 English and Term 2 Reading Program

Year 7 have just completed their ‘Survive to Thrive’ unit where they have composed their own flash fiction piece focusing on survival and completed an in-class reflection on their reading and writing experiences this term.

Well done to all students for surviving AND thriving in your first term of high school English!

Year 7 Term 2 Reading Program – The Expansion of RIBIT

Watch this space...

In collaboration with the WBHS Library, Year 7 students will complete a reading program next term, supported by their classroom teachers, to develop and foster their love and enjoyment of reading.

Students will be rewarded for their efforts and each completed book throughout the term with prizes!

Year 8 English

This term, students have read SHACK, an Australian play written by George Kemp.

To develop their speaking, performance and collaboration skills, their assessment task was a short performance of an ‘interviewer’ and ‘interviewee’ (a character from the play).

Students worked in pairs to develop questions and answers for both roles, demonstrating their deep understanding of the text, and performed their creative interpretations for the class.

Year 9 English

This term, Year 9 students engaged in the ‘What Matters’ unit of work and learnt the art of persuasion to develop their own multimodal websites that communicated issues that were important to them.

Students wrote on a number of topics that were important to young people in 2025 including climate change, youth homelessness, animal protection, pollution and even the proposed Hunter wind farm project.

Thank you, P&C!

The English faculty would like to extend our thanks to the P&C who generously purchased three sets of texts for our Stage 4 and 5 units of work including, Shack (Year 8 play) and two Aboriginal-authored texts for our Year 9 novel study unit, Border Land and Ghost Bird.

Our staff and students are so grateful for these new additions to our bookroom and the many possibilities these texts present to our students for worldly discussion and learning.

Year 11 Extension English

Students engaged in a heated class debate this week to consolidate their understanding of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, arguing the statement that Shakespeare championed the idea that romantic love brings individuals happiness.

While both teams used relevant textual evidence to support their arguments and presented logical ideas to support their position, ultimately it was the Negative team (Rex F, Sophie E, Kaitlyn C, April W, Bridie A) who took home the winning chocolate eggs. Well done to all students for participating!

See the closing argument from Sophie E below: "Does Love Make You Happy?"

Our opponents would have you believe that Shakespeare presents love as the ultimate key to happiness. But the truth is, the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream are constantly in turmoil because of love. Let’s be clear—these characters aren’t the picture of happiness, they're a picture of confusion, manipulation, and magical interference. It is clear that Shakespeare does not advocate for romantic love as a path to individual happiness. Through his portrayal of the complexities and conflicts surrounding love in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," he emphasises that love is unpredictable, often misguided, and that true happiness comes from personal growth and introspection, not dependence on external sources of validation.

Stage 6 Debating Team

Well done to our Stage 6 Debating Team who won their second-round debate against Goulburn High School this week!

Students debated the topic that all parents should complete a compulsory course before becoming parents.

Arguing from the Negative position, our team skillfully addressed the weaknesses and flaws in the opposition's argument and took home the win.

The girls are extremely excited to continue their debating journey next term.

Congratulations Sophie E, Isabelle N, Heidi A and Madison M! And thank you for your organisation and support, Mr Walkling.

HSC High Achievers Day

Miss Wilk and Mrs Bates used their experience as HSC markers to present to a select number of Year 12 students from the Lake Macquarie East and North Network at the University of Newcastle this term.

Students heard from a range of experts including Tim McCallum (Executive Director, School Performance), Graham Wright (HSC data analyst) and other subject experts, providing them with valuable insights and information to achieve success in their HSC year.

Shelf Indulgence: English Teacher Book Recommendation

This bulletin’s recommendation comes from Mrs Mulligan:

Sunrise on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins, released on 18th March 2025.

The novel plunges readers back into the harrowing world of Panem, this time through the eyes of a young Haymitch Abernathy during the second Quarter Quell, where he finds himself unexpectedly reaped.

The novel draws the reader into the blindly beautiful, yet deadly arena, as we experience Haymitch's anguish and loss.

Get ready to see a whole host of familiar characters, as we finally understand the depths of Haymitch's pain. Making this a compelling return for avid Hunger Games fans and a great introduction to the universe for new readers.