Week 1 Term 3 - English Department: Review Term 2 (July 14 - July 18)

English Department with Alex Moffat-Wood Week 7 Term 2

Although Term 2 was short (9 weeks), it was a very busy and full on term for the English Department. Across the last 9 weeks of Term 2, the English Department focused on our written text studies for our Junior and Senior English classes. We also spent time unpacking new assessments for NCEA Level 1 English and preparing for the Mid Year Junior Examinations. A significant change for our Department this term was the arrival of our new English Teacher - Mr Jeiel Sevilla. We are excited to have Jeiel join our team and to work with our young people. We are very grateful for Mrs Vivienne Hall for working with us in Term 1 and 2 ,we appreciate your heart and commitment to our Department and students. I am really proud of the work that we have done this term as a Department and with our students. In Term 2 we delved into our written text studies across Year 9 to Year 13 and it is always a fun and exciting learning experience with our students. We are able to explore and unpack texts with our students and expose them to a literary world that will open their lens to how they see themselves and the world.

We acknowledge that we are a digital school and we have embraced digital teaching and learning in its full capacity. However this term we have seen the power in physical writing and crafting of texts. We have encouraged our students to do this, specifically in our Junior School (Year 9 and Year 10 English classes). Our Mid Year Junior Examination for Year 9/Year 10 English was a physical paper and we saw our students fully engage in this assessment. There were no distractions or any temptations to use AI. The AI space is a space that we have found quite challenging, monitoring and managing student’s authenticity with their writing is an area that we are still navigating and finding our way through. We are hopeful that not just as a Department but also as a school we can have more clarity on what our policy and process is when it comes to the use of AI and ChatGPT. 

I am very appreciative of the work that the team has poured into our Department and students in Term 2, it can be very draining and time consuming. I am grateful for each and every single member of our English Department for their service in Term 2. I acknowledge that my job as HOLA cannot function without my colleagues. I want to thank and acknowledge the entire English Department - Ms Anahina Latu, Mrs Pravina Harde, Ms Francis Kolo, Mr Faiyaz Hoosein, Mr Jeremy Spruyt, Mrs Vivenne Hall and Mr Jeiel Sevilla for commitment, professionalism, talent, drive and enthusiasm for our learning area, for our learners and for each other. The strength of our Department lies in the strength in our relationship and in our history together. I thank you for trusting my leadership. I would also like to acknowledge the work of Mrs Mary-Anne Wyatt and Mr Marc Milford for your support of the English Department in Term 2. 

In my next post I will review, look at and unpack our Junior and Senior English program for Term 2. I will look at some highlights for both programs and what our current status is in terms of Student Achievement. I will then outline what our action steps we will implement as we go into Term 3. I look forward to sharing the review of the English Department Term 2 Junior and Senior English program in my upcoming reflections.