Spotlight on Our Young Writers

Our Year 12 English Extension Ⅱ students gathered on Tuesday evening to celebrate the submission of their Major Works, marking the completion of an intensive creative journey that has seen each young woman develop a substantial original piece that reflects her values, attitudes and perspectives.

As Head of English Mr Matthew Woolaston explains, the English Extension Ⅱ Major Work is ultimately a project of passion that represents a "synthesis of personal thoughts, ideas and experiences coalescing into an original, evocative and individual work".

"English Extension Ⅱ is, in every respect, the fulfilment of the study of English, where from learning about, critiquing, analysing and composing texts, the role shifts," he reflects. "Our students move from responding to, to becoming authors in their own right. Through their Major Works, they are contributing to our literary landscape."

The variety of mediums chosen by this year's cohort reflects their creativity and thoughtful approach to storytelling:

Anabella produced a creative short fiction piece titled Beyond the Mirror, born from her observations of the debasement and reduction of femininity in classical antiquity in favour of perpetuating their male counterparts' complexities, dynamism and heroism. She has blended a subverted form of linear narration to cast metafictive reflections on the craft of storytelling, while exploring how females can find representation reflective of our human condition. Anabella’s work challenges audiences to consider the role of readers, authors and literary tradition in relation to their connections with female literary figures.

Katie authored the creative short fiction Mourning Sickness, a piece that features the experiences of three different women and their relationships with motherhood. Her Major Work was born from her observation that in literature, women are often cast in three roles: the maiden, the mother and the crone - limiting female characterisation to their reproductive capabilities. In Mourning Sickness, Katie aims to subvert these characterisations, letting women exist as women, not as mothers.

Chloe’s podcast The Girl Who Cried Pain uses insightful storytelling to create a poignant reflection and articulate critique of the pathologisation of women's pain. It is a deeply personal piece that both investigates the enshrining of women's pain in literature as a problematic romanticisation, and calls for the legitimisation of women's pain.

Jessica has composed a critical response titled Schools of Thought, a 'fictocritical' piece that blends critique and creativity to question the way we teach English literature. Jessica's Major Work uses the unique postmodern form of a subverted standardised test to produce a satirical and ironic tone. In Schools of Thought, she challenges the audience to consider the absurdities of some pedagogical practices, and to explore the future of education in our changing world.

Sienna has written an important short fiction for our time - Beware the Russian Bear. The work derives from her observations of the historic abuse of the voices of the Romanov women in film, shows, and courtrooms. In Beware the Russian Bear, she blends storytelling of the lives of the Romanov women with an interjecting narrator, and she confronts the romanticisation and iconisation of the deaths of these women.

Scarlett’s work is titled The First Daughter, a creative non-fiction piece that represents an insightful musing on the philosophy of French writer, Albert Camus. She has built upon one of his unfinished works about the philosophy of love through the use of a hybrid form that blends historical recreation with philosophical inquiry. The First Daughter reflects on how the absurdity of love lies within communicative failure, serving as another fervent yet futile attempt to communicate.

Tara has composed a script for a one-woman monodrama, Woman in the Wings. It grew from her passion for theatre and keen observations of the performative nature of female identity. In Woman in the Wings, she experiments with Brechtian techniques to challenge audiences with previously silenced discussions and crafts a distinctive female voice on stage, one unbound by the traditions of male practitioners.

Natalie’s drama script, A Bit of Politics with your Pav, draws on the tradition of domestic realism and features the tensions, silences, and unspoken fractures that persist in our national story. Through the familiar space of the home, she illuminates how political myths and struggles are sustained precisely because they are woven into everyday life. In Natalie’s work, the ordinary has become political, and the domestic a stage for history itself.

“The construction of the English Extension Ⅱ Major work is not, by any means a purely individual pursuit,” Mr Woolaston says. “It is a whole of community effort from teachers to parents. In the completion and submission of these significant literary pieces, we acknowledge the role our parents and guardians have played in supporting, listening and guiding students in the development of their literary works."

This community aspect extends to the teaching approach itself. "The role of the teacher in English Extension Ⅱ is a dynamic one that differs from the regularity of classroom instruction," Mr Woolaston explains. "It is, in equal measure, a role of facilitator, of sounding board, of fair critic but always, a companion to walk with on the journey towards the conceptualisation and development of a literary work."

"Particular thanks is due to Assistant Head of English and Class Teacher for English Extension Ⅱ, Ms Annette Fyfe, who carefully facilitated the students’ development, challenging them to think beyond the possible and immediate. Mr AK Akkawi has also been instrumental in supporting Ms Fyfe and providing a fresh perspective throughout the creative process," says Mr Woolaston.