In this Key Learning Area students develop knowledge, skills and understanding about the English language and literature. We encourage positive attitudes towards learning English, using language effectively and critically reflecting on how language works.

Student’s literacy skills are developed through the experiences provided in:

1. Speaking and Listening,
2. Reading and Viewing, and
3. Writing and Composing.

We provide a varied curriculum which caters for the individual needs of each student. Our programs reflect the belief that talking and listening, reading and writing all have a role in communication and that development in one of these areas is very much linked to the development in the others.

The students are provided with experiences using a wide range of literature and a variety of strategies are used in the English programs which assist the students in working towards achieving outcomes. Working together with you, the parents, we can foster in your children a love for literature. Having a positive attitude to literature impacts on the student’s learning and leads to the successful achievement of outcomes.

Through responding to and composing a wide range of texts and through the close study of texts, students will develop knowledge, understanding and skills in order to:

• communicate through speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing and representing
• use language to shape and make meaning according to purpose, audience and context
• think in ways that are imaginative, creative, interpretive and critical
• express themselves and their relationships with others and their world
• learn and reflect on their learning through their study of English.

Students will value and appreciate:

• the importance of the English language as a key to learning
• the personal enrichment to be gained from a love of English, literature and learning
• the power of language to explore and express views of themselves as well as the social, cultural, ethical, moral, spiritual and aesthetic dimensions of human experiences
• the power of effective communication using the language modes of speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing and representing
• the role of language in developing positive interaction and cooperation with others
• the diversity and aesthetics of language through literary and other texts
• the independence gained from thinking imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically.