JOHN  MCGLASHAN  COLLEGE  ENGLISH  DEPARTMENT

 

 

 

The English curriculum can be broken down into three pairs of aspects: reading and writing, speaking and listening, and viewing and presenting.

 

At the start of the year, each student is issued with a course handbook which contains details of the topics studied during the year, assessment dates and policies as well as information about homework, folder organisation, stationery etc. 

 

Parents may find it useful to look through the course handbook to see what their sons are studying or how their work is assessed.  This is particularly important for NCEA courses (Y10 upwards).

 

Some units of work that may make up a typical English course at McGlashan include:

• novel study
• creative writing
• language study
• film study
• deliver a speech
• formal writing
• short story study
• present a static image
• research
• library skills

 

Teachers spend time at the start of the year getting to know their students’ strengths and weaknesses and use this to plan which texts will suit the interests and needs of the students.

 

In Years 7 and 8, boys study Social English, which is a context-based combination of English and Social Studies. 

 

In Year 9, the boys study English with the aim of developing the skills they need to succeed when assessed against the National Qualifications Framework.  In Year 10, these skills are further developed and two standards are assessed at Level 1 NCEA.  Full details are published in the students’ course handbooks.

 

Beyond Year 10, there are different options for English:

• NCEA courses (Levels 1, 2 and 3)
• Alternative NCEA courses (Levels 1 and 2)
• Scholarship English
• IB English

Details of all these courses are given to the boys before they select their options.

 

The English Department also runs a series of competitions for the boys.  “Go McGlashan Read!” focuses on reading; the prepared reading competition and the formal speech competition focus on speaking and we also run a creative writing competition.  As well as these activities, the English Department also looks after various extra-curricular events such as debating, speech competitions and writing competitions.  Boys can choose to enter events such as the Otago Regional Council Speech Competition or the NZ Post “Liberate Your Words” writing contest and receive support from the English Department.

 

Iain McGilchrist

HoD English