The College value for 2023 is Courage. Within the English faculty we are always focused on the many different ways we can foster and develop courage in our students as they navigate new and different academic and cocurricular activities.

Whether through joining the debating team and testing their oratory skills in a public sphere, sharing their ideas and insights in class, offering a constructive critique of a peer’s work or pushing themselves to move outside their comfort zone and set high expectations for themselves, it is always gratifying to watch students grow in stature and self-belief.

This term, many of our students have been working hard to plan, draft, edit and refine oral presentations for particular contexts, audiences and purposes. Presenting in front of others is certainly an activity that can require courage and it is important for students to grasp these opportunities to develop the crucial skills of meeting deadlines and developing strategies for communicating in different situations.

It is very normal for some students (and adults!) to experience nerves and adrenaline when presenting to an audience. As teachers who witness students navigate and triumph over their initial reservations every year, we know that our students can and do rise to the challenge and produce excellent presentations. It is always such a pleasure to watch students recognise that they are capable of doing things that once seemed daunting.

As parents, you can also play a vital role in helping your children realise this sense of achievement and pride by affirming the importance of facing challenges head on. In Year 12 English we study Toni Jordan’s novel, ‘Nine Days’, and students connect powerfully with the inspirational advice that father Kip Westaway instills in his daughters to always seize the day, nurturing in them the self-belief and courage to take “every day with two hands and wring the juice out of it.”

Nicola O’Shea
Learning Leader: English