Steering Standard English Course Overview
Facilitator: Emily Bosco (Bachelor of Arts, GradDipEd [Secondary], Master of English Studies)
Duration: 3 hours
NESA Career Stage Level: Proficient Teacher (NSW)
Australian Professional Standards: 2 and 3
Fee: $400 (GST inclusive)
Next In-person Course: 25th March, 2026
Venue: International Hotel, Wagga Wagga (Corner of Sturt Hwy & Lake Albert Rd, Wagga Wagga NSW 2650)
Registrations Close: 20th March, 2026
Next Live Online Course: TBC
Platform: Zoom
Session 1: Navigating the Standard English Course
This session establishes a clear overview of the NSW Stage 6 Standard English course and its intent. Teachers will explore how the focus areas—Texts and Human Experiences, Language, Identity and Culture, and Close Study of Literature—work together across Year 12. The session focuses on aligning teaching and learning programs to syllabus outcomes, understanding knowledge and skills progression across the course, and structuring coherent teaching and learning programs that support student confidence and success.
Session 2: Teaching Texts with Intent and Coherence
This session focuses on effective approaches to teaching prescribed texts within each focus area. Teachers will examine strategies for sequencing learning, explicitly teaching textual analysis, and building conceptual understanding over time. Emphasis is placed on designing lessons and activities that support students to read closely, respond meaningfully, and develop ideas and skills that can be transferred across focus areas and assessment tasks.
All example activities and learning sequences in this session will draw on a range of current prescribed text options, including Henry Lawson Short Stories, One Night the Moon, Swallow the Air, Contemporary Asian Australian Poets, The Perseverance, and Arrival.
Session 3: Using Formative Assessment to Improve Writing
The final session centres on leveraging formative assessment to improve student writing across the Standard English course, with particular attention on integrating The Craft of Writing. Teachers will explore practical strategies for scaffolding writing, embedding low-stakes formative assessment, and providing targeted feedback that supports improvement. The session highlights how writing development can be systematically built across the course, rather than confined to isolated assessment tasks.
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