In order for students to become aware of the way in which language and images are used to shape their lives, they must become critical readers of the messages presented to them by a continually expanding range of media. The Year 7 Advertising Project aims to educate students in the methods used by advertisers to encourage consumers to buy products. By critically evaluating the linguistic and visual persuasive techniques of advertisers in a series of print advertisements, students become more discerning readers of the messages presented to them. Students then use their knowledge of persuasive techniques to create their own print advertisement that aims to persuade a particular target audience to buy their product. They must then write a persuasive pitch to the client that analyses the reasons why the advertisement’s methods of persuasion will work effectively on their chosen target audience.
The Year 10 electronic magazine, Expanding Horizons 2010, is designed to explore the personal experiences of students during their time on overseas exchange or Ruyton’s annual trip to Outback Australia. Students use appropriate software and information technology to design Web Pages and explore the way in which various design and layout features can add emphasis to particular aspects of their written texts.
All of these projects aim to allow students to explore areas of individual interest while also encouraging them to become more active and discerning participants in the world around them.
The texts studied as part of the English Curriculum also offer numerous opportunities for students to make connections with events and times beyond their immediate experience. In Year 7 students are asked to consider some of the dilemmas faced by soldiers in the First World War in their study of Sonya Hartnett’s The Silver Donkey. In Year 8 students explore the effects of Apartheid on South Africa in the 1970s and in Year 10 students look at the way in which the spectre of Nazism can have effects on countries decades after the conclusion of the Second World War. At Year 11, the study of The Handmaid’s Tale asks students to consider the consequences of dystopian totalitarian regimes that rob individuals of the basic rights and freedoms. Students are required to analyse the warnings that such a text provides and to make parallels between the world of Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale and elements of contemporary societies.
Creative Writing - An Invitation into the Imagination
Creative writing continues to be an extremely important part of the English Curriculum at Ruyton. It is essential that the value and joy of creative writing is fostered in students as it offers them the chance to explore their own inner worlds while also making important connections with the outside world.
Ruyton has a long history of success in the field of creative writing and 2010 has been no exception. This year no fewer than six students were recognised with awards in the Boroondara Literary Competition. As they have for the past 16 years, students in Years 7 to 11 participated in the annual Isobelle Carmody Creative Writing Competition. Once again, the quality of the writing was extremely high. The judge, professional writer Sue Lawson, was thoroughly impressed with the imagination and flair displayed in the short narratives and commended the students’ dedication to the craft of writing.
Now in its fourth year, the English Department Literary Magazine, Scripsi, will be published in an electronic format for the first time on the school’s new intranet. The magazine will continue to showcase Senior School students’ talent for poetry, fictional stories, autobiographical narratives, essays and speeches.
Public Speaking
Ruyton’s numerous Public Speaking competitions continued to display students’ outstanding oral communication skills. All students in Years 7-10 participated in the keenly contested Orator of the Year Awards, and the Year 11 Suzanne Northey and Year 12 Alan Patterson Competitions were celebrated and awarded at the Senior School Public Speaking Finals on the last day of Term 3. Ruyton also participated in the VCAA Plain English Speaking Awards and the Rotary Club of Richmond Public Speaking Competition.