Scotch College

Introduction to English at Scotch

The Scotch College English Department currently consists of twenty-five full-time members of staff who teach across a range of subjects and year levels from Year 7 to Year 12, with courses tailored to the varying needs and interests of our boys.

The Department has a well-deserved reputation for academic excellence, professionalism and genuine individual student support, and as a result enjoys the confidence and respect of the boys of Scotch. The Department’s main aim is to assist every boy to achieve their academic best while challenging them to broaden their view and perspective on the world with a view to becoming well-informed, critical, perceptive, literate and articulate citizens. It is our genuine hope to instill in every boy a love of literature and appreciation for their cultural heritage in order to better contribute to their society both now and in the future.

In addition to the compulsory mainstream English classes, the subjects offered through the Department include, Literature, English Language and Media. Additional remedial support is also available through the additional specialist curriculum offerings of English Workshop (Years 7 & 8) and Core Support (Year 9). Specialist Literature and Film & Media electives are offered in Year 10, while the VCE offerings include English (Units 1,2,3 & 4), Literature (Units 1,2,3 & 4), English Language (Units 2, 3 & 4) and Media (Units 1,2,3 & 4). Indeed, it is not unusual for boys to select 2 or more of these VCE subjects concurrently in either or both Year 11 and 12.

Academic results are strong, with Scotch continually significantly outperforming the State mean in all subjects. In 2004 64% of English students were awarded ‘A’ for their final VCE grades. In Language it was 67% while in Literature it was 86%. Several boys always achieve the perfect study score of 50, while in the past we have produced many University entrance scholarship recipients.

The Departmental resources are extensive with a specialist English Library complementing the main School Library. Furthermore, the Department sites on ‘Learning Point’ (Scotch intranet) contain useful electronic resources including past exams, examiners’ comments, model answers, text resources and useful websites. Most English classrooms are equipped with digital projectors, DVD/VHS players and wireless facilities.

The Department also facilitates various extra-curricular clubs and activities including ‘Wordsmiths’ (Scotch College Writers’ Club) and Public speaking. In cooperation with the Library, we offer the bi-annual Literature Festival; various writing, speaking and debating competitions; and host an array of visiting writers and speakers.

In short, it is a very busy but exciting Department which offers much to the Scotch boys, who do well to continue to take full advantage of such opportunities.