English and Debating

Academic

2005 has been a busy and productive year in the English Learning Area. In an era of considerable educational change it has been a case of one eye clearly on the present and the other on the future.

In relation to the present, the focus has been on the continued development of an engaging lower school curriculum in line with outcomes based education. Mr Michael Mueller, in his English coordinator capacity, has been active in providing meaningful learning opportunities with a clear integrated technology emphasis, particularly in Year 9. At a senior level, the attention has been clearly on preparing students for the courses and challenges which lay ahead. For our Year 11 students, this means English Literature or for the majority, one of the new Courses of Study in 2006. With the future in mind, staff have spent considerable time completing both directed and personal professional development in order to be prepared for this significant change in focus. In brief, this means that in the near future all student performance will be measured in terms of levels using the scales of achievement. While one cannot ignore the press that Outcomes Based Education has received, it has allowed staff to develop creative studentfocused programmes, which differ considerably from the previously regimented syllabus. Trinity College’s involvement in this transitional education period has been at the forefront with the approach to be involved in trialing the Texts, Traditions and Culture Course to be implemented in 2007. An enthusiastic Year 10 Literature class led by an even more enthusiastic Mr John Watson, have embraced this challenge and provided valuable feedback to the course writers. The response from the Curriculum Council in terms of the constructive guidance provided has been glowing. I thank the department for their efforts over the course of the year, it is a pleasure to work amongst a group of dedicated teachers who encourage students to strive to do their best.

Anthony Byrne Head of English & LOTE

Anthony Byrne

Head of English & LOTE

SENIOR DEBATING TEAM

Back row: Binuk Kodituwakku, Stephen Dale, Benjamin Creighton, Matthew Slack-Smith, Perry Joyce, Tom Antoniazzi

Second row: Mr Tim Redden,

Dylan Misso, Nathan Colli, Andrew Hislop, William Schwab, Michael Wright, Timothy Caldera,

Mr Anthony Byrne

Front row: Sean Chia, Christopher Dawson, Samuel Reid, Philip Murray, Benjamin Caddy, Long Pham, John Marshall

YR 9 DEBATING TEAM

Back row: Mr Anthony Byrne, Nicholas Buckley, Joshua Hicks, Craig D’Mello, Daniel Matthys Front row: Benjamin Tomasi, Gerard Rosario, Ryan Platts, Mitchell Mollison, Julian Sieber

YR 8 DEBATING TEAM

Back row: Bodie D’Orazio, Alex Walton, Anthony Erskine, Daniel Nokes, Jonathon Papalia Second row: Mr Anthony Byrne, Christopher Dale, Tom Lillywhite, David Bremner, Matthew Papalia Front row: Jordan Di Lello, Henry Robinson-Grone, Nicholas Mountain, Nicholas Monisse, Dylan Caddy