This Australian thematic unit of work engages students in the study of three key areas of the concept of a journey; physical; inner and imaginative. It uses the film ‘Lion’ as a core text and other comparative material is studied including the Robert Frost’s poem ‘The Road Not Taken’; an overview of the autobiography ‘Tracks’ and the film ‘Big Fish’ by Tim Burton. Students will see the similarities and differences in these concepts and become familiar with the concept of the journey being the essential aspect, not necessarily the destination. The structure of this unit of work is based on the Stage 6 Area of Study studied in mainstream Standard English and modified to meet students’ needs.

This unit of work is designed to have students explore various dinosaurs, their habitats and the food chains that existed before their extinction. Students will be required to complete numerous Fact Files on dinosaurs of their choice alongside being creative in designing and recreating dinosaurs of their choice. This unit is particularly creative to be assessible to all students throughout the Support Faculty alongside engaging student interest. Students will conclude the unit by focussing on researching, planning, evaluating and presenting a dinosaur of their choice to the class.

The unit engages students in the study of two films, ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Megamind’ as the Anti-Hero and what that entails. Students will learn the Visual and Film techniques both use in depicting their central characters and will then start using their knowledge in annotating key scenes from this. Students will again be reintroduced to the PEEL formula whereby, they will compare and analyse both films for their similarities and differences. Students will be looking at; the process of character development; narrative structure and indicators (especially quotes); film techniques and their impact on the audience. Students analytical skills will all come into play by the end of the unit, where they compose a complete 5 paragraph modelled analysis of the films and the themes and techniques used to show their character development.

This is a comprehensive study of William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ broken down into 30 lessons in which key scenes from each of the five acts, are analysed by students using the original text. Students will annotate their understanding of the bard’s words and in some lessons, modernise these to enhance understanding. Students will explore not only language devices such as juxta positioning and dramatic irony, they will also work with the concepts of the themes love, hate and fate. Students will learn to express their interpretation of the play via a PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explanation and Link) formula and this will be used as part of their Summative Assessment. Various scaffolds and prompts are available consistently throughout this close study of the tragic text.

This unit is designed to have students think critically about the advertisements they are exposed to in daily life. Students will learn a combination of persuasive devices used to persuade a target audience alongside the skills of visual literacy. Student will work with print, online, radio and television advertising material and learn to annotate these in detail. Students will be assessed on their ability to both analyse and create advertisements in these various forms with the unit concluding with students developing, planning and presenting a detailed advertising campaign on a new brand of bottled water.

The focus of the Unit of Study is to demonstrate to students the major importance of online safety. As C21st learners, students are susceptible to a variety of dangers when using the internet, communicating electronically and being active followers on numerous social media sites. The main intention of this unit is to outline potential risks and dangers to their privacy and safety via their digital footprint and to understand that there are many precautions they can take in ensuring their digital safety. Our students are particularly vulnerable to many features in this space and they requite explicit instruction in understanding, interpreting and evaluating how much and what sort of information they post online. This Semester-based program covers different areas of learning such as: • Internet Safety • Cyber Bullying • Emailing and Messaging • Online Gaming • Social Media • Your Digital Footprint • Being Cyber Smart • Digital Citizenship

This unit teaches students the importance of empathy and compassion whilst engaging students with David Walliam’s humour. Students have previously studied the work the work of Roald Dahl, so they are familiar with this genre and language. This unit is designed to have students’ write in various forms throughout the term and variate their language and structure according the Purpose, Audience and Form. These writing tasks will be marked by the teacher as part of their Summative Assessment with the final task of creating a digital review of the novel in weeks 9 and 10. Students will be continuing the Reinforced Reading component of the MultiLit program with the class SLSO 1:1 as they are selected on a rotational basis to re-read the chapter that has been modelled to the class followed by the completion of a vocabulary and comprehension worksheet for the corresponding chapter. Student accuracy and fluency will continue to be assessed on a fortnightly basis using the MultiLit WARP assessment tool.

This unit has been designed to introduce students to the function of the brain and its development from early childhood to adulthood. Particular attention is paid to adolescence as it is a time of significant brain development and obviously most relevant to our students. By adolescence, the part of the brain associated with emotions, impulses, aggression and instinctive behaviour – the amygdala (groups of neurons in the brain) – is well developed. However, the part of the brain that controls higher-order or executive functioning – the prefrontal cortex – matures last and isn’t fully developed until we reach our 20s. The prefrontal cortex takes care of decision making and manages our ability to plan and think about the consequences of our actions, solve problems and control impulses. This explains why young people can’t always make complex rational decisions or understand the consequences of actions in the way adults can. This study is intended to teach students these features and stages so that they can acknowledge in their future reactions and emotions that they are still learning and growing. Students are encouraged to form a growth mindset and seek out a learning opportunity in any mistakes or setbacks.

This unit of work addresses the text type of non-chronological report writing. Students are exposed to the various language and structural features that make up this type of text and are encouraged consistently to think about Purpose, Audience and Form. Students are introduced to this text type before working with the class teacher in modelling non-chronological texts before they go on to compose their own. Secondly, small groups will be working with the SLSO throughout each of these lessons in completing Literacy Tasks which focus on particular skills such a grammar and sentence structure. Students complete these tasks with 1:3 (maximum) support on a rotational basis throughout each 2-week learning cycle. Alongside this, the class teacher will be conducting the 1:1 Reinforced Reading component of the MultiLit Program. Levelled Informative Texts are read by the students at least once per 2-week learning cycle. The Pause, Prompt, Praise delivery of the program will allow the teacher to gauge reading fluency, accuracy and comprehension (verbally discussed after each 15 min reading session). The teacher will select 5 words of difficulty from the session and these are recorded by student in the back of their English book. Throughout the plenary of each lesson, the student will use each word in a written sentence in their books. Assessment of student goals, strengths and areas for improvement are consistently assessed via teacher questioning and discussion. The core key questions of the unit will be informally discussed and assessed using a student friendly Assessment Rubric throughout Weeks 9 and 10. Students will: • Complete a series of Literacy assessments which will benchmark their ability and areas for progress • Complete MultiLit’s 1:1 Reinforced Reading Program twice per week and have their progress assessed and charted fortnightly • Work in pair and individual settings with the class SLSO as they complete differentiated work on Literacy skills.

This unit is designed to have students think critically and use the strategies taught to form a balanced argument and counter-argument. The theme of Sustainability and Climate Change runs throughout the entirety with students producing a visual letter to someone in power asking them to think about an issue they feel powerfully about. Via this citizenship approach, students are encouraged to recognise not only the persuasive powers of others, but also acknowledge and empower their own persuasive thinking and reasoning.

This unit is focused on identifying the key social skills and empathy required to be successful in working with others in a safe and respectful way. By learning to work together, regardless of individual differences, students build empathy and show kindness towards others. These are essential life skills for all people. This unit of work allows students who struggle with some or all these areas, to make substantial progress in these vital skills as they regularly practice them in a safe and supportive team building environment. Positive and respectful relationships occur when all parties feel respected, secure and supported in their interactions with one another. Positive relationships might look different between peers, between educators and children, between educators and families, and within families themselves. However, some common aspects include relationships where all parties: • listen to others’ needs and are respectful of their beliefs and values, even if they don’t share them • can be honest with each other • feel supported, encouraged and valued as they are • feel safe from any form of abuse or put-downs • plan and make decisions collaboratively • show empathy and feel understood, trusted and that they’re being treated fairly.

This unit of work is 10-weeks of planning and addresses the broad textual focus of informative writing. Teachers are encouraged to select a specific informative text type to focus on throughout the unit e.g. information report, factual description, explanation. In addition to this, learning is consistently personalised to each students’ interests and ability level as there are various content topics for students to write about e.g. objects, animals, phenomena and numerous scaffolds and differentiated resources throughout. The topic of Informative Texts is again reinforced throughout pair and small group reinforcement tasks that take place with the class SLSO. Students complete these tasks with 1:3 (maximum) support on a rotational basis throughout each 2-week learning cycle. Alongside this, the class teacher will be conducting the 1:1 Reinforced Reading component of the MultiLit Program. Levelled Informative Texts are read by the students at least once per 2-week learning cycle. The Pause, Prompt, Praise delivery of the program will allow the teacher to gauge reading fluency, accuracy and comprehension (verbally discussed after each 15 min reading session). The teacher will select 5 words of difficulty from the session and these are recorded by student in the back of their English book. Throughout the plenary of each lesson, the student will use each word in a written sentence in their books. Assessment of student goals, strengths and areas for improvement are consistently assessed via teacher questioning and discussion. The core key questions of the unit will be informally discussed and assessed using a student friendly Assessment Rubric throughout Weeks 9 and 10. Students will: • Complete a series of Literacy assessments which will benchmark their ability and areas for progress • Complete MultiLit’s 1:1 Reinforced Reading Program twice per week and have their progress assessed and charted fortnightly • Work in pair and individual settings as they complete levelled work on Informative Texts.

This is a wonderful introductory lesson on students thinking about what makes them unique and wonderful. They use the Collage pictures to create a cubist -style collage and compose a Cinquain Poem that is highly scaffolded to then publish their work. The collage and poem can be pasted onto some coloured A3 paper or card and put on display in your classroom. A fantastic activity that creates truly unique representations of your student’s interests and qualities. Any reviews would be appreciated.

This cross-curricula program was designed for students to explore and engage with their local area. It incorporates various excursions and Community Access activities which worked extremely well with students who exhibit challenging behaviours or struggle to engage with the curriculum. This unit was a wonderful experience to deliver and the students thoroughly enjoyed being involved in their learning and incorporating their local knowledge into our learning experiences.

This program was designed to cater to the needs of an Australian SSP (School for Specific Purposes) class for students who exhibit challenging behaviours. The program was written for an Australian Stage 4 class (Years 7 and 8) but could easily be adapted for younger or older students. The outcomes are from the Australian Curriculum (mainstream) with adjustments made throughout to cater for students’ highly personalised learning and behaviour needs.

This program was designed to cater to the needs of an Australian SSP (School for Specific Purposes) class for students who exhibit challenging behaviours. The program was written for an Australian Stage 4 class (Years 7 and 8) but could easily be adapted for younger or older students. The outcomes are from the Australian Curriculum (mainstream) with adjustments made throughout to cater for students’ highly personalised learning and behaviour needs.

This program was designed to cater to the needs of an Australian SSP (School for Specific Purposes) class for students who exhibit challenging behaviours. The program was written for an Australian Stage 4 class (Years 7 and 8) but could easily be adapted for younger or older students. The outcomes are from the Australian Curriculum (mainstream) with adjustments made throughout to cater for students’ highly personalised learning and behaviour needs.

This program was designed to cater to the needs of an Australian SSP (School for Specific Purposes) class for students who exhibit challenging behaviours. The program was written for an Australian Stage 4 class (Years 7 and 8) but could easily be adapted for younger or older students. The outcomes are from the Australian Curriculum (mainstream) with adjustments made throughout to cater for students’ highly personalised learning and behaviour needs.

The unit allows students to become readers, writers and performers of written news. This program follows the otline of the wonderful BBC News Unit of Study on TES. Students will access a variety of news articles so that they can identify the common features and apply these when composing their own recount news article. Students will then extend this understanding into the realm of television, whereby they will learn to write and read a script. Students will work collaboratively as class to create a Falcon News broadcast. Students will: • understand the key features and organisation of a news story • To understand the differences between fact and opinion • To compare written news / TV news • To use language which is appropriate to the task, reader/audience and purpose • To use skills learned in written news and apply them to TV news

The unit engages students in a close study of Michael Morpurgo’s novel ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’. Students will explore the themes, characters and techniques developed by the author and illustrate their understanding of these via a combination of creative and analytical tasks. Students will: • understand the features of a characterisation, narrative and themes and identify these throughout a close reading of the novel • develop their ability to infer meaning from the novel and consider their own interpretation of the concepts covered. • be introduced to analytical writing via the PEE formula and use quotations to support their points of view in their writing • recognise some basic narrative techniques and explain their use and effect on the viewer • adopt these narrative techniques in their own creative writing • use multimedia to compose an engaging Book Trailer. Any reviews or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.