FAROUT fine! It is here, UNFINISHED and UNEDITED and UNFORMALISED okay?
Hi Mr Piccoli
My name is Alexander Wojno, I am a student currently in year 11 in high school. I am just writing because I thought of something which I guessed could possibly become useful for the future. I am not sure if you are aware sir, but there is a very large proportion of students in NSW high schools who struggle with the HSC English courses, and there are many who I have myself spoken to who actively vocalise their hatred of the subject and the burden it causes them for their ATARs.
Although I have had my fair share of Advanced English struggles, I think on the whole it is a quite enjoyable subject, and definitely worth to keep for all students in the HSC, as we of course need to ensure that the students who graduate from NSW high schools are ready to engage as fully literate and linguistically capable members of society. I agree with the compulsory nature of English in the HSC.
However as aforementioned, I have come to realise that English can potentially be a very heavy burden for a vast majority of students in NSW, ATAR wise. Even in top selective schools, it can be very difficult for students to bring themselves to accept english as a necessity, and make a very large effort to do well in the subject, lest it shall bring down their ATAR. The fact that 2 units of english must be counted in ATAR calculation often drags down the ATAR's of many otherwise very talented students. It gives great grief and stress to many I have found.
I would like to keep the HSC english course as compulsory in year 11 and 12, though the aspect which I think would be worthy of change is the inclusion of english in ATAR calculation.
I think it might be a good idea to consider instead the creation of a separate report for all HSC students, with English.
Thus, students would receive an overall report of performance in their HSC subjects, along with an associated ATAR ranking, but rather than having English count towards ATAR, the student's english results would be detailed in a separate booklet specially for english. This would allow kid's ATARs to be a true reflection of their ability, because, as there is no "compulsory" subject that counts towards ATAR, kids can choose only the subjects they enjoy and are good at, allowing them to get a better ATAR overall, because they perform well in what they enjoy.
They would still have to do HSC english, though their results wont be as critical in determining whether or not they have a sufficient ATAR to pursue their dream careers.
So then university courses would also c
hange their entry requirements. The university would establish an ATAR cutoff for each individual course, AS WELL as establish a minimum HSC english score required, depending on the level of english competency they feel is required in a particular course.
As HSC english is largely skills based, this structure would allow for the separation of university courses where these skills are not as crucial for success, with the courses where these skills form a fundamental part of the students learning.
This structure overall does a few things.
1. Allows for students to have their HSC rank come from SOLELY the subjects they are good at, and thus have performed well in, giving a sure moral boost to all students in the state.
2. Maintains the necessity of english. This means students will know they still have to work in the subject, because Universities will still look upon their english score where appropriate. So students coming out of high school will have done sufficient study of the english language to function effectively in society regardless of the career path they cho
3. Separates the
