English
English at Swan Christian College is designed to cater for the broad range of literacy skills represented in our student body. Students are streamed in order to provide teaching and learning opportunities most applicable to their current level of ability. The study of English is compulsory.
The modern study of English is essentially a study of language and how it works. While still requiring the study of traditional text forms like novels and poems, it now includes texts such as films, documentaries, still images and expository texts. This means that we cover a broad range of texts in our courses and that students produce a range of creative and analytical works.
'Story' is the backbone of much of what we do. Story elements are found in all texts to a greater or lesser extent. The language of communication that we study and learn is laced with story elements. Stories help us to understand who we are and how we fit into our world. We tell our stories to one another and we are created to respond to stories. We are part of God's great story of Creation and His intervention in our fallen world.
The middle school years involve a broadening exploration of various text types (reading) while developing the language skills of the students (writing). Students are encouraged to increasingly understand the deeper figurative and symbolic meanings in texts, and to reproduce these in a range of creative and analytical presentations (including oral).
In the senior years, courses are offered from Stage 1 through to Literature Stage 3. There is a stronger focus on analytical responses with the aim of preparing students for future work or further study. The subject is studied under broad topics such as Language and Self, Language and Ideas and Language and Identity, offering students the opportunity to engage with some of the 'big' questions we are faced with as human beings. Our teachers endeavour to offer a Christian perspective on issues raised through the variety of texts studied.