outside of their comfort zone. We see them making discoveries about our past, present and future. We see them building their awareness, confidence and love of learning. It is great fun and we know that it will serve them well as they move into a vast array of careers around the globe. Theatre practitioner Augusto Boal stated “We must all do theatre – to find out who we are, and to discover who we could become.” Congratulations to our 2021 prize winners: Year 10 Prize for Drama – Nick Sharr Seddon-Smith Prize for newcomer in
radio broadcasting and the fitness industry. He began his
to learning in English that places the students in the centre of the learning and emphasises cognitive development, alongside core literacy as being the most important objectives in our work. A parallel investigation into student choice led us to offer an abundance of options to the new cohort of students beginning Years 10 and 11 in 2022. These ranged from dark gothic and dystopian contexts such as those presented in Rage Against The Machine , and In Darkness And In Light , to more contemporary psychologically-driven (and might we say populist?) options like How To Get Away With Murder and Fake It ‘Til You Make It and even extending into film-focussed courses such as On The Cutting Room Floor and programmes grounded in the study of Shakespeare like Dire Ambition . Social awareness and moral criticism were also offered as central foundations to the courses Don’t Judge Me , The Newsroom and Take It To The Streets . No matter what courses students select, they will continue to be learning English; however, these broadened contexts and the contrasting lazer focus on literacy and cognition will make sure students of English enter their NCEA programmes in Year 12 even better prepared than their peers in other schools. The short interregnum we experienced in Term 3 with another Covid-19 lockdown led to our learners heading home and learning online. Some hilarity ensued with students’ teleconferences into scheduled lessons occurring from many unlikely locations including, at one stage, the cab of a tractor. The department and students did a sterling job of keeping on track during this period, and returned to school after it in largely the same place as they would have been. What was missed in 2021 were many of the extra-curricular opportunities, some of which were abandoned at the very last minute, that can sometimes be the main anchor for some learning. A great deal of our work this year was, by necessity, completed within the confines of the classroom.
teaching career in Christchurch at Christchurch Boys’ High School and Cashmere High School, followed by a long association with Mount Aspiring College in Wanaka, where he served as department head before following the well-travelled path to London. His tenure as Head of English at that small boys’ school in central London set the template, and via a short stint back at Mount Aspiring, he took up the new role at College with great alacrity, committing to remaining in place to see the department through many exciting years to come. The beginning of Term 2 also saw the arrival of another English colleague, Erin Rutherford. Hailing from Timaru, she completed her degree at the University of Canterbury, majoring in English and History. She thoroughly enjoyed her studies, and her time at the New Zealand Graduate School of Education, where she gained her Graduate Diploma in secondary education. Throughout this time, Erin was very involved in the Student Volunteer Army, where she progressed to the position of Marketing Manager as part of their 2019 Executive. Prior to taking up the position at College, Erin worked short stints at St Bede’s College and Linwood College. She accepted a permanent position at College in late November. In line with the school’s move towards the College Diploma for Years 10 and 11, the department took the opportunity to review all programmes across the five years of study and to envisage a future where learning is not so constrained by the vagaries of national standardised assessment. As a result, and in pursuit of our newly-stated mission to “Empower young people by harnessing the knowledge and skills of English to enhance their ability to engage critically and creatively with the world so they may communicate with empathy and clarity”, we embarked on the first stage of a full curriculum rewrite. Typically full of words, this mission has become our “north star” and has illuminated a new and more focussed approach
Theatre Arts – Josh Durrant Year 11 Prize for Drama – Ed Davidson
Year 12 Prize for Drama – Jacob Clements and William Olsson Year 13 Prize for Drama – Henry Briscoe Cup for Best Senior Actor – Hamish McCulloch Best Theatre Director – James Currie Best Theatre Production – Hamish McCulloch Stage Door Cup for Service to Drama
– Remy Fitzgerald Hannah Clarkson Director of Drama
ENGLISH ‘Tentative’ might be an apposite adjective to describe the start of 2021 in the Department of English as the spectre of Covid-19 sat menacingly on the horizon. It was a year characterised by an uneasy tension between the ‘steady as she goes’ approach one would expect in uncertain times, and our active preparation for significant change to come. With new leadership and the injunction to prepare for the delivery of the brand new College Diploma in 2022, the team dug in and completed an excellent year. We welcomed a new Head of Department, Chris Waugh. Chris came to teaching 20 years ago via the business world; namely
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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