A Checklist of Stage 6 English Resources
 

Quality Teacher Program website

Project 1.1: Enhancing Literacy in Stage 6 through English

The development of practical and quality professional development resource materials will support the further development of English secondary teachers’ skills and understanding to further their implementation of the Stage 6 English syllabus. The resource materials will focus on effective teaching, learning and assessment strategies designed specifically for the new HSC courses. Implementation of the resource material will be facilitated by school-based trained teachers delivering professional development events through Local Interest Group (LIG) structure.

Further resources and the most current information can be found by visiting the QTP website http://www.qtp.nsw.edu.au and selecting the Literacy focus area then Project 1.1: Enhancing Literacy in Stage 6 through English.
 

Stage 6 English BOS requirements

The one-stop shop for information about Stage 6 English Course requirements is the NSW Board of Studies (BOS) website:

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus99/syllabus2000_liste.html#engtexts

Here you will find:

  • English Stage 6 Syllabus (covering Standard, Advanced, ESL, Fundamentals and Extension English Courses).
  • Specimen Exam papers for English HSC courses (supported by Issues, Mapping Grids, Draft Performance Bands, Marking Guidelines documents)
  • English prescriptions for Areas of Study, Electives and Texts 2001-2002 (in addition to this document an alphabetical listing and an A3 Poster are also available on site)
  • Support documents for Area of Study, ESL and Fundamentals courses, as well as documents on Workplace and Community Texts, English - TAFE Credit Transfer, English - Internal Assessment, English - Answers to FAQs, Extension 2 Answers to FAQs, English - Speeches, Changing - Stimulus booklet for Areas of Study, Annotated Professional Readings and Annotations of texts prescribed for the first time HSC 2001-2002.
 

Support for Standards Referenced assessment

The NSW Board of Studies website gives comprehensive access to newsletters, documents and packages to support teacher understanding of standards referenced assessment:

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus99/syllabus2000_list.html#assessment

Resources to support the implementation of new HSC assessment in NSW schools are also listed on the Assessment HotSpot on the cross-sectoral New HSC Professional Development Website:

http://www.newhsc.schools.nsw.edu.au/resassess.htm

Eg: here you will find links to cross-sectoral Assessment Bulletin No 2 1999, which explains how to use the recommended Assessment Grid as well as issues in designing quality assessment tasks.

Videos and workshop materials (initially distributed to NSW schools via the Assessment LIG events in 1999 and 2000) can be used to support English faculty planning of Stage 6 assessment.

 

Stage 6 English support materials, ideas, units and resources

English LIG 1999 and English LIG 2000 - video and workshop materials should be available in your school. See also the New HSC Professional Development Website for Workshop Materials and Sample Programs.
http://www.oten.edu.au/newhsc/cftest/admin/workdisp.cfm

Curriculum Newsletters – HSC English Supplements
Though written for government schools, HSC supplements 1999-2001 are available to all sectors via the New HSC website
http://www.newhsc.schools.nsw.edu.au/resnewslett.htm

NSW DET Curriculum Support Directorate – Stage 6 English teaching and learning ideas, materials and links are available at
http://www.curriculumsupport.nsw.edu.au/english/index.cfm?u=3&i=16

AIS Association of Independent Schools website carries sample Stage 6 English programs and assessment tasks
http://www.studentnet.edu.au/ais/hsc/index.html

NSW HSC Online
Carries lesson and unit ideas for new HSC English
http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/english/

State Library of NSW – Infocus
http://infocus.slnsw.gov.au/res/home.cfm
This service aims to supports the research needs of HSC teachers and students.

The English Teachers Association of NSW supports teachers through a range of activities such as its website, journal (mETAphor) and annual conference
http://www.etansw.asn.au/home.htm

 
 

New critical theories in English

Care is needed in relation to any explicit teaching of new critical theories in the secondary classroom. Much depends on the interests and abilities of the students, and the nature of the English course and electives being undertaken. If used judiciously, recent critical and cultural theories can enrich teaching and learning strategies, opening up new possibilities for teachers and students.

The Board of Studies has provided a list of readings about the theoretical underpinnings of the new Stage 6 English syllabus - Annotated Professional Readings 1999 (included in English support documents on the BOS website).

The following websites may also be of interest to those who are seeking to build their knowledge about recent critical and cultural theories (eg. postmodernism). They are offered as starting points for those who are highly motivated.

Sarah Zupko’s Cultural Studies Centre - Popculture.Com Website - contains many links to information about and writings by a wide range of contemporary literary and cultural theorists and critics, as well as links to journals and sites of interest.

http://www.popcultures.com/theorist.htm

George P. Landow’s Cyberspace and Critical Theory website (Brown University, USA)

http://landow.stg.brown.edu/cpace/theory/theoryov.html

Voice of the Shuttle Web Page for Humanities Research (Literary Theory section)

http://vos.ucsb.edu/shuttle/theory.html

 
 

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