The English Learning Area at Ocean Reef Senior High School engages students in the study, analysis, and interpretation of a variety of text types. With a focus on reading and viewing, writing and creating, and speaking and listening, students are encouraged to think creatively, and critically examine texts and the role they play in society.
Our English courses provide the opportunity to explore a wide range of imaginative, persuasive, analytical, and interpretive texts, as students develop their own skills in analysis, interpretation, and writing creatively. Students also explore how language and stylistic choices can be manipulated for a particular purpose and audience, and how interpretations of texts can change over time.
Courses offered by the English Learning Area:
Lower School
- English: Year 7 – 10
- English Academic Extension: Year 7 – 10
- English Literature
Senior School
- English ATAR
- Literature ATAR
- English General
English ATAR
The English ATAR course focuses on developing students’ analytical, creative, and critical thinking and communication skills in all language modes, encouraging students to critically engage with texts from their contemporary world, the past, and from Australian and other cultures.
Through close study and wide reading, viewing and listening, students develop the ability to analyse and evaluate the purpose, stylistic qualities and conventions of texts and to enjoy creating imaginative, interpretive, persuasive and analytical responses in a range of written, oral, multimodal and digital forms.
Literature ATAR
In the Literature ATAR course, students learn to create readings of literary texts and to create their own texts, including essays, poems, short stories, plays and multimodal texts. Students engage with literary theory and study literary texts in great detail. Students learn to read texts in terms of their cultural, social and historical contexts; their values and attitudes; and their generic conventions and literary techniques. They enter the discourse about readings, reading practices and the possibility of multiple readings. Students learn to create texts paying attention to contexts, values and conventions. Students learn about literary language, narrative, image and the power of representation. Students experience the aesthetic and intellectual pleasure that reading and creating literary texts can bring.
English General
English General focuses on the skills needed to become confident and engaged users of English in everyday, community, social, further education, training and workplace contexts. The course provides students with the skills to succeed in a range of pathways by developing their language, literacy and literary skills. Students comprehend, analyse, interpret, evaluate and create analytical, imaginative, interpretive and persuasive texts in a range of written, oral, multimodal and digital forms.