Highlights from 2021 were:
HSC English Extension 2 Projects
Throughout 2021 a group of 5 Year 12 students completed major works for Year 12 Extension 2 English. With mentoring from English staff, they demonstrated their outstanding skills in narrative and poetry as they submitted projects that reflected their commitment to the process. Early morning classes, holiday workshops and late nights, for students and their teacher, resulted in all presenting completed projects. A big thank you to Mrs Susan Grujevski for her ongoing support of our English Extension students.
HSC Drama
2021 was another challenging year for HSC practical subjects. Year 12 Drama worked around Covid restrictions to complete their Individual Projects and Group Performances. While restrictions meant that external markers were not able to attend the school, stringent marking processes were applied to ensure that students were assessed and reported on effectively as part of the practical component of the course. Ms Cummins is commended on her dedication to the students.
Author Visit - Writing Workshops
On Friday 12 March 2021, a group of Year 8/9, Year 10 and Year 11 students attended individual year group writing workshops where they were inspired by renowned Australian author, Phillip Gwynne. The students totally enjoyed the experience and gained some insight into their own creative writing skills. Phillip Gwynne was impressed with the level and depth of the students work. Many of the students obtained positive feedback from Phillip and were also able to ask questions to further enhance their writing.
Escape Room - Year 10 Interest Electives
As part of the Year 10 Interest Electives, English staff guided students as they travelled to Egypt and the Seven Seas while playing a variety of escape rooms. All students were engaged, however, only few were able to escape in time!
English Year 8 PBL Projects Term 4
During Term 4 students worked in groups to answer the driving question: 'Why is Shakespeare still relevant today?’ Year 8 researched and used their skills in inferential comprehension to uncover some of the mystery surrounding this playwright who is still held in high regard over 400 years from when he first penned such classics as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Groups presented their work to their teacher and peers during the final weeks of term to proudly demonstrate their understanding. Don't disregard the Bard!
Debating
During 2021, the teams representing WBHS definitely had some challenges, but more importantly, they came away with some fantastic results in the Premier’s Debating Challenge for 2021.
In the Year Nine and Ten Debating Team, Ms McCullagh had the pleasure of working with a mature and proficient team of girls who did not lose a debate throughout the year. Mia O, Maddison F, Allira H and Ava W made WBHS extremely proud with their results, winning against Cardiff High School and Whitebridge High School. Unfortunately, due to the lockdown, their debate against Merewether High School A was postponed and then cancelled altogether.
In the Year Seven and Eight Debating Team, students were willing to sharpen their debating skills they had learnt from primary school. Annabelle C, Jasmine L, Saskia L and Anisha R also produced fantastic results. They came out as the winning team against Toronto High School. Sadly, lockdown also dashed any chances of future debates with other teams in the region.
Congratulations to both teams on their outstanding results!
Year 9 Podcasts
What issues are important to you? This is the question we asked of Year 9 English in 2021. Students were encouraged to investigate and create a podcast that reflected their understanding of the topic in a persuasive text. Many students also created a visual image or powerpoint to represent their issue. Teachers were very impressed with the quality of the responses and the thought and attention to detail that students applied to the task.
Year 10 Auteur Podcasts
Have you every wondered why film directors create the films that we enjoy? Year 10 investigated the work of Tim Burton and reflected on the influences that resulted in him releasing such well-known films as ‘Edward Scissorhands’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. Through the study of Burton’s background, Year 10 developed an understanding of how Burton’s context impacted on the films, and they used this to produce podcasts that shared this with an audience. Year 10 teachers were impressed with not only the depth of knowledge demonstrated but also the skills they brought to their podcasts.
Year 7 Drama Performances
In Term Four, Year 7 learnt about the ways we can have our voices heard and classes focused on the power of performance. Some students designed amazing concepts for their plays and demonstrated their creativity in producing outstanding sets.
