Students will engage in a comprehensive exploration of texts, emphasising reading comprehension, critical thinking and effective communication. The curriculum integrates diverse genres to provide a dynamic and enriching learning experience. This course is tailored to prepare students to be able to answer questions in the Selective High Schools Placement Test as well as scholarship tests.
In this Extension English course, the expectation is that students will be able to discuss and analyse ideas more deeply, and write at a more advanced level.
Note: In Term 3, enrolment is restricted to current English Extension students.
Course objectives
• Apply advanced reading comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse diverse texts independently
• Demonstrate creativity and clarity in a range of text types including narrative, descriptive, informative and persuasive writing
• Develop critical thinking skills through literary analysis, inference and interpretation of texts
Teaching plan
Vocabulary is included in most weeks. Homework includes a writing task that is teacher-marked, and other activities that are self-marked. There is no homework in week 10.
Week 1: Main idea summary, cloze activities, crafting engaging similes, ‘show, don’t tell’, comparing orientations, text analysis
Week 2: Literary techniques, poetry comprehension, narrative structure, narrative point-of-view, concluding a narrative, text analysis
Week 3: Inferring character, fiction comprehension, idioms, advertisements, triangle of rhetoric, text analysis
Week 4: Linked extracts, formal letter: information letter, application letter & letter of complaint, formal & informal language
Week 5: Reading mock test, persuasive writing, text coherence and cohesion, refutation, text analysis
Week 6: Poetry analysis, language analysis, parody, diary/journal writing, text analysis, parentheses
Week 7: Paired texts comprehension, linked extracts, advice sheet structure, using subheadings and bullet lists, text analysis
Week 8: Cloze activities, fiction comprehension and analysis, idioms, newspaper report structure, text analysis
Week 9: Reading and writing assessments & review, language fun, creative thinking activities, main idea summary
Week 10: Fiction comprehension and analysis, visual text analysis, flash fiction
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| James Ruse AHS | 46 | 10 |
| North Sydney Girls HS | 19 | 5 |
| Baulkham Hills HS | 35 | 17 |
| North Sydney Boys HS | 21 | 4 |
| Normanhurst Boys HS | 15 | 7 |
| Sydney Boys HS | 23 | 9 |
| Hornsby Girls HS | 15 | 5 |
| Sydney Girls HS | 14 | 1 |
| Fort Street HS | 9 | 3 |
| Penrith Selective HS | 4 | 1 |
| Girraween HS | 5 | 1 |
| NBSC Manly Campus | 3 | 1 |
| St George Girls HS | 2 | 1 |
| Hurlstone Agriculture HS | 15 | 1 |
| Others | 14+ |
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| Beecroft Public School | 9 | 6 |
| North Rocks Public School | 8 | 5 |
| Ermington Public School | 7 | 3 |
| Artarmon Public School | 7 | 2 |
| Matthew Pearce Public School | 6 | 4 |
| Dural Public School | 7 | 1 |
| Waitara Public School | 4 | 1 |
| Hurstville Public School | 3 | 2 |
| Ryde Public School | 4 | 1 |
| Ironbark Ridge Public School | 6 | 4 |
| Chatswood Public School | 7 | 3 |
| Woollahra Public School | 5 | 0 |
| Neutral Bay Public School | 6 | 0 |
| Others | 25+ |
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| James Ruese AHS | 7 | 1 |
| Baulkham Hills HS | 5 | 1 |
| North Sydney Girls HS | 4 | 2 |
| North Sydney Boys HS | 1 | 1 |
| Hornsby Girls HS | 3 | |
| Normanhurst Boys HS | 5 | 2 |
| Sydney Boys HS | 4 | |
| Sydney Girls HS | 3 | 2 |
| Penrith Selective HS | 1 | |
| Girraween HS | 2 | |
| NBSC Manly Campus | 3 | |
| Fort Street HS | 1 | |
| Others | 3 |