What does the course entail?

The English ATAR course focuses on developing students’ analytical, creative, and critical thinking and communication skills in all language modes. It encourages students to critically engage with texts from their contemporary world, with texts from the past and with texts from Australian and other cultures.
Through close study and wide reading, viewing and listening, students develop the ability to analyse and evaluate the purpose, stylistic qualities and conventions of texts and enjoy creating their own imaginative, interpretive, persuasive and analytical responses.
"Writing gives us the opportunity to explore our thoughts and ideas in a fun and interactive way"

What units will be covered in this course?

Year 11
Units 1 & 2

Unit 1
Students explore how meaning is communicated through the relationships between language, text, purpose, context and audience. This includes how language and texts are shaped by their purpose, the audiences for whom they are intended and the contexts in which they are created and received.
Engagement in this course will allow students to:
  • Understand the relationships between purpose, context and audience and how these relationships influence texts and their meanings.
  • Investigate how text structures and language features are used to communicate ideas and represent people and events in a range of texts.
  • Create oral, written and multimodal texts appropriate for different audiences, purposes and contexts.

Unit 2
Students analyse the representation of ideas, attitudes and voices in texts to consider how texts represent the world and human experience. Analysis of how language and structural choices shape perspectives in and for a range of contexts is central to this unit.
Engagement in this course will allow students to:
  • Understand the ways in which ideas, values and attitudes are represented in texts.
  • Examine the ways texts are constructed to position audiences.
  • Create oral, written and multimodal texts that experiment with text structures and language features for particular audiences, purposes and contexts.

Assessment Structure
There are three types of assessment in the English ATAR course. The weightings of these assessments are set by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority.
They are:
  • Responding 35-40%
Types of assessment will involve tasks in which students comprehend, engage with, interpret, analyse, compare, contrast, reflect on, appreciate and evaluate a range of texts and text forms for a variety of purposes and audiences.
  • Creating 35-40%
Students create sustained imaginative, interpretive and persuasive texts in a range of modes for a variety of purposes and audiences.
  • Examination 20-30%
The examination assesses work covered in the unit(s) completed, using questions requiring responses to texts and the creation of texts. The examination is typically conducted at the end of the semester and/or unit and reflects the examination design brief for this syllabus.

Year 12
Units 3 & 4

Unit 3
Students explore representations of themes, issues, ideas and concepts through a comparison of texts. They analyse and compare the relationships between language, genre and contexts, comparing texts within and/or across different genres and modes. Students recognise and analyse the conventions of genre in texts and consider how those conventions may assist interpretation. Students compare and evaluate the effect of different media, forms and modes on the structure of texts and how audiences respond to them.
Engagement in this course will allow students to:
  • Understand relationships between texts, audiences, purposes, genres and contexts.
  • Investigate the effects of different conventions and media on responses.
  • Create oral, written and multimodal texts in a range of media and styles.
  • Explain how each text conforms to or challenges the conventions of particular genres or modes.
  • Analyse and evaluate how similar themes, issues, ideas and concepts are treated in different texts.

Unit 4
Students examine different interpretations and perspectives to develop further their knowledge and analysis of purpose and style. They challenge perspectives, values and attitudes in texts, developing and testing their own interpretations through debate and argument.
Engagement in this course will allow students to:
  • Understand how content, structure, voice and perspectives in texts shape responses and interpretations.
  • Examine different interpretations of texts and how these resonate with, or challenge, their own responses.
  • Create oral, written and multimodal texts in a range of forms, media and styles.
  • Analyse and evaluate how different attitudes and perspectives underpin texts.
  • Question the assumptions and values in texts.
  • Identify omissions, inclusions, emphases and marginalisations.
  • Discuss and evaluate different readings of texts.

Assessment Structure
There are three types of assessment in the English ATAR course. The weightings of these assessments are set by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority.
They are:
  • Responding 35%
Types of assessment will involve tasks in which students comprehend, engage with, interpret, analyse, compare, contrast, reflect on, appreciate and evaluate a range of texts and text forms for a variety of purposes and audiences.
  • Creating 35%
Students create sustained imaginative, interpretive and persuasive texts in a range of modes for a variety of purposes and audiences.
  • Examination 30%
The examination assesses work covered in the unit(s) completed, using questions requiring responses to texts and the creation of texts. The examination is typically conducted at the end of the semester and/or unit and reflects the examination design brief for this syllabus.
Head of Learning Area: Mr Robert Armitage
Contact Number: 9591 4237
​Contact Email: [email protected]