This week I had a Year 13 student tell me they wanted to get back into reading but they didn’t know what to read.

From the English Department.

This week I had a Year 13 student tell me they wanted to get back into reading but they didn’t know what to read. So I took them to the library and pulled 5 books from the shelves which I have read and enjoyed. It was encouraging to see them the next day hiding their book behind their laptop screen, happily reading away. I thought, I’ve done my job well today! I am always on the lookout for great books to recommend to students and looking for new books to buy a class set of for our English classes. Watching students realise the joy to be found in a good book is one of the best parts of my job.

We have continued to have a ‘Word of the Week’Preview Page which staff have been using in class for students to guess by emailing me. This week is was “Aspirational” which felt fitting as we approach exams. Last week we started a “Student Word of the Week” where I have emailed the students a word to use in their classes for staff to guess. This week the word was “Prudent” and when I revealed that to the staff this morning a few staff announced; “Oh! I thought it was that!” 

It’s been so encouraging to see staff and students alike thinking about vocabulary and having some fun improving it. Vocabulary is a cornerstone of literacy, and reading is one of the best ways to continually be improving it. Mrs McHale in the library is always buying and displaying new books, so any encouragement you can give your student to get to the library to get a book out is a fantastic way to support them. 

What We’re Reading:

I have just finished The Women by Kristin Hannah, which I loved so much I sent a copy to my Mum for her birthday today, and sent a copy to my father-in-law (without my name on it because it felt like a fun mystery parcel). It tells the story of a young American nurse who signs up to serve in the army in Vietnam. The first half of the book is about her experiences of nursing in Vietnam, and the second half is about her experience of returning to the USA. It was interesting to read about the Vietnam War from a female perspective, particularly reading about her experience of PTSD (which was only just becoming a condition doctors understood at this time) and being repeatedly told, “There were no women in Vietnam.”

-Ms Beaumont 

Senior Speech Competition

We are holding a Senior Speech Competition on Wednesday the 18th of September as an optional speaking competition for seniors who enjoy or want to improve their public speaking skills. We are encouraging all seniors to consider entering by email me or their English teacher. 

Literacy and Numeracy Common Assessment Activities.

Next week we begin the second round of Literacy and Numeracy Common Assessment Activities. Students have been emailed individual emails regarding which test(s) they are entered into so if they are not sure they should search my name in their inboxes for details. It is really important that they bring a fully charged laptop to school. Year 10s are sitting in Period 1 and 2 and seniors are sitting in Period 3 and 4. 

 NZQA provides a Text-to-Speech tool called “Polly” which they can use in the Literacy Writing and Numeracy test (not Literacy Reading). We encourage all students to use this feature and encourage them to bring headphones (ideally plug in ones to avoid issues with Bluetooth). There is a short explanation video on how to use Polly here: Click here

Timetable for Assessments:

Week 8 Monday 9th September - Thursday 12th September

Monday 9th September - Literacy WRITING
Tuesday 10th September - Literacy READING
Wednesday 11th September - Conference Day
Thursday 12th September - Numeracy

Week 9 Monday 16th September - Thursday 19th September (Catch Ups)

Tuesday 17th September - Literacy READING
Wednesday 18th September - Literacy WRITING
Thursday 19th September - Numeracy

-Katherine Beaumont
HOD English
[email protected]