Assessment Schedule
Please see the Year 7 - 9 Assessment Policy, Schedule and Malpractice Policy for a detailed Assessment Schedule.
Term 1 - Stories of resilience - refugee stories
Through the study of multimodal, digital, spoken, and nonfiction texts, students will explore Australia’s diverse narratives, gaining insights into themes and ideas by revisiting and reinterpreting texts. They will analyse how language forms create multiple meanings and examine the contextual influences shaping understanding and interpretation. Students will explain how texts adapt or subvert conventions across different modes to generate new meanings, applying these techniques in their own writing. Additionally, they will reflect on their work, using technical vocabulary to evaluate authorial decisions in relation to the target audience and purpose.
Term 2 - Speculative fiction: Questioning possiblities
This teaching program will immerse students in the speculative fiction genre, with a focus on John Marsden's novel Tomorrow, When the War Began. Through the lens of this text, students will explore the structural conventions of imaginative texts, particularly how these conventions are used to develop complex characters, conflicts, and themes. By investigating narrative voice and tense, students will also explore how these elements contribute to the portrayal of ideas, themes, and an author's perspective. In addition, the course will engage students in critical analysis of how speculative fiction reflects and critiques societal values, particularly as they evolve through time and cultural contexts.
Term 3 - Exploring dramatic ideas
Through the study of drama (Honey Spot, No Sugar, Stolen) and film (Rabbit Proof Fence, Whale Rider), students will explore how themes of colonisation, cultural identity, and racism are represented through Indigenous perspectives. They will analyse the audience's role in interpreting these themes, evaluate how aesthetic qualities shape a text’s purpose, and experiment with these in their own writing. Students will examine connections between texts to deepen understanding of Australian history, culture, and Aboriginal perspectives, applying narrative voice and structural conventions to develop characters, conflicts, and themes.
Term 4 - Change and Chaos
Students read and analyse a range of texts which capture the various ways people express personal voice and perspective about social issues. They explore the ways that poetry and other text types can help people to express deeply held views reflecting the concepts of social order, change, and chaos. By responding to and composing their own texts, students have the opportunity to develop their understanding of how poets and other composers use structure and language forms and features, including imagery and figurative language, to create meaning, and the ways poets express their personal perspectives of the world.