On behalf of the English Department, welcome and welcome back to the 2025 school year. We are excited to see so many returning and new faces around the school and in our classrooms. We are also thrilled to welcome back James England. James has taught at Esperance SHS for many years, and we are thrilled to have his teaching expertise and personality back in our department.
The English Department is very proud to acknowledge the work of our current Year 8 cohort. During 2024, this group created a range of poetry with a range of student work being submitted to the state-wide Novus Lux competition. The Novus Lux competition is for short stories and poems created by students in Years 7 through to 9. The English Department congratulates all who entered. We would also like to congratulate Mila King, Macy McLaren, and Alyrah Stokes for having their poems published in the Novus Lux publication. Only 45 students were selected for the publication, and it is a phenomenal achievement for so many of our students to be published poets.
After experiencing a wide range of introductory activities during Week 1, our Year 7s have started exploring fairy tale conventions. Our Year 8 cohort has been examining advertisements and the ways in which they persuade. Our Year 9 group has been deepening their comprehension skills by analysing persuasive written texts.
In senior school, the Pathway 2 Year 10 cohort are examining survival stories. The Pathway 1 Year 10 group have been exploring how MS Teams and OneNote can be used to create digital analytical scrapbooks. The Year 11 General classes have been exploring a digital autobiographical task and the ATAR classes have been analysing comprehending questions. The Year 12 General group has been examining perspectives and values in texts and the ATAR group has been exploring the dystopian genre and examining Ray Bradbury’s 1952 short story, The Pedestrian.
We wish the entire school community all the best for what is sure to be a very exciting 2025.
Mr Blechynden
Head of Department – English
