English Department

This week we're taking a look at Tararua College's English Department. This year the English Department has made an effort to continue to make their curriculum more relevant and localised for our tauira.

In the Junior School, at Year 9 students are encouraged to look at the communities we live in; the fact that everyone is different and accepting and embracing the differences around us. Students also learn how they can express their ideas to bring about change in their communities, countries and the world through speech and writing. At Year 10, taking their own community and identity as a starting point, students explore the themes of mana, social justice, and following your dreams. All courses are designed to help students continue to develop the key literacy skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. In the Senior School, themes and ideas are taken further and expanded into a wider world context as students work towards their NCEA qualifications. Our English Department teachers are currently working hard to plan for the upcoming NCEA changes which are set to place an even more important role on literacy in schools.

English and literacy skills have also been an important part of WhÃnau Time at the college this year with regular literacy activities being integrated into the WhÃnau Time programme. Engaging our tauira in literacy is school-wide focus and an important part of every subject, not just English. Across the school students have also been engaging in weekly current events investigations through New Zealand news websites for research, reading and writing skills. Below is a collection of photos showcasing some of the practical literacy-based games and activities that students have been enjoying in their English classes so far this year - playing Pictionary and Articulate for communication skills and learning about plant propagation for reading and writing skills. Students have also enjoyed playing the new online word guessing game Wordle: www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/