Is your school strict about who can do English Advanced? (2 Viewers)

[sydneyjournalist]

Hi all, I hope it’s okay to post this here, but I think some of you might be able to help.

I’m a journalist from The Sydney Morning Herald working on a story about schools being strict with who they let do Advanced English.

If you (or someone you know) wanted to do it but weren’t allowed - even if you were motivated or capable - I’d love to chat.

I’ve heard of schools having exams and unspoken (or spoken!) rules about whose allowed to do the subject, and trying to suss out if it’s legit.

Send me a DM or email to Emily.kowal@smh.com.au

All correspondence will be treated with sensitivity and confidentiality. We can speak on background, or you can remain anonymous if you prefer.

 

[tywebb]

so u make this one

Darcy wants to do HSC Advanced English. His school won’t let him

Some Sydney high schools are putting up high, arbitrary barriers to prevent ambitious HSC students taking English Advanced for the HSC. Now students are speaking out about being forced to take a low-scaling course.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Study to success]

I kinda regret not doing this now tho cause I would have loved talking shit about the my school's eng department anyomously obv cause if I named dropped the school they would have expelled me

 

[tywebb]

we’ll u don’t have to stop talking about it

in some ways the article is just the beginning of the conversation

on the other hand they’ve already been talking about it for years, so it’s not really new

 

[Study to success]

Any journalists out there. If u ever want to interview someone about how the antienglishhsc party feel free to ask me lol

 

[killer queen]

I'm ngl this is kinda fascinating

I wonder if op would be willing to extend this discussion to other subjects (and vice versa bc don't some schools not offer standard eng/math bc selective? idk how true this is) and also how some schools make students "drop" subjects (there are def some threads on here abt that)

also I wish I could read the article ahaha

Any journalists out there. If u ever want to interview someone about how the antienglishhsc party feel free to ask me lol

they probably do like 87876 articles about rewriting the syllabus ngl

I know someone who was interviewed abt the music syllabus changes

 

[Study to success]

also I wish I could read the article ahaha

use removepaywall.com to read it

 

[Study to success]

omg and also they need to have like an intermediate math course or smth cause for some people std is too easy and then adv is too hard

 

[Study to success]

and also how some schools make students "drop" subjects (there are def some threads on here abt that)

oh yeah I remember once this sor teacher at my school forced this kid into dropping software for sor 2. And then my other friend wanted to do non atar re but then the teacher just signed her off for sor 1. Lowkey if I didn't say that my other subject ran on the same line as sor 2 they would have made me do it. And also don't even get me started on this one math teacher at my school that is forcing half her class to drop to std or drop ext and also the top 50 rule for adv eng last year was incredibly traumatising

 

[jane1820]

my school doesnt limit who does english but they limit who does what level of maths
ill give one example and thats all you guys need to see what the math faculty is:
year 11 term 1: 2 full advanced classes. 50+ kids in advanced. we become one class before half of year 11. now we are 19 kids and decreasing.

 

[Eagle Mum]

my school doesnt limit who does english but they limit who does what level of maths
ill give one example and thats all you guys need to see what the math faculty is:
year 11 term 1: 2 full advanced classes. 50+ kids in advanced. we become one class before half of year 11. now we are 19 kids and decreasing.

It’s tricky with maths as either the teacher has to teach at a slower pace to accommodate slower learners and not cover the whole curriculum or teach at a preset pace and leave the slow learners behind which can be devastating as maths really requires a solid foundation of understanding to build problem solving skills. My eldest was in a class of only three students for MX2 and the slowest student was achieving single digit scores in tests, so the pace of teaching slowed significantly to cater for him. He eventually dropped out for the last term and the teacher galloped through one of the modules and didn’t really cover the last module, so my eldest went into the exam having only covered 75% of the curriculum (she did get an E4).

It is ironic, though, that there is a BHHS (usually ranked amongst top five high schools) student, in another thread, with marks of 60, who is being encouraged to drop MX1 and at our local high school (usually ranked around 350), the teacher persevered with MX2 for a student who can’t reach double digit marks. However, this same teacher did enable my son to sit & achieve 98 in MX1 in Yr 10 and MX2 in Yr 11, so it is all a mixed bag and opportunities really depend on ‘luck’ of getting a good teacher-student fit and decisions by individual teachers.

 

[99.95dreams]

my school forces everyone to take english advanced...

 

[tywebb]

it made it to front page of sydney morning herald today

 

[watermelonenjoyer]

Any journalists out there. If u ever want to interview someone about how the antienglishhsc party feel free to ask me lol

it can go in my fake newspaper LMAFO

 

[watermelonenjoyer]

my school forces everyone to take english advanced...

help is that even legal

 

[Study to success]

help is that even legal

yeah in selective schools

 

[Study to success]

help is that even legal

ikr and the private schools that force their kids to take religion aka my school. Honestly they should make it illegal for students to mandate certain subjects and only NESA should be able to

 

[Eagle Mum]

ikr and the private schools that force their kids to take religion aka my school. Honestly they should make it illegal for students to mandate certain subjects and only NESA should be able to

Private schools are also called 'independent schools', for this reason.

 

[Study to success]

Private schools are also called 'independent schools', for this reason.

ik but still it's unfair

 

[99.95dreams]

yeah in selective schools

i'm not selective but my school is a top 30 private school
and tbf i don't really see much of a difference in standard and advanced english papers lol