HSC English Studies (NSW) case studies
HSC English Studies (NSW) · Put your knowledge to work in context.
English Studies Stage 6 is a Board Developed 2-unit English course in New South Wales, designed for students who wish to refine their skills and knowledge in English and consolidate their literacy skills. It builds language, literacy and literature skills through responding to and composing a wide variety of oral, written and multimodal texts, including literary, digital and media texts, and it explores ideas, values, language forms, features and structures across personal, social, cultural, academic, community and workplace contexts. The HSC English Studies (NSW) case studies are 5 cases and about 3,558 words.
1The Prescribed Text Is a Film, and the Essay Is Drowning in Plot
A Year 12 class of 24 has studied the prescribed film for the common module for six weeks. The teacher, Mr Okafor, marks the first practice essay under exam conditions (40 minutes, handwritten, one unseen question on the role of storytelling in shaping individual experience).
738 words, about 4 min2The Work Placement Journal That Reads Like a Diary
In the Year 11 mandatory module 'Achieving through English', a student, Priya, completes a two-week work placement at a veterinary clinic. Her assessment requires a reflective journal (800 words) plus an analytical commentary (500 words) on the communication she observed and used.
741 words, about 4 min3Choosing an Elective When the Class Is Split Three Ways
A Year 12 English Studies class of 27 must study elective modules. The faculty offers three: one on contemporary Australian voices, one on the language of sport and leisure, and one school-designed module on 'Work and Identity' built around interviews with local workers.
684 words, about 3 min4The Multimodal Task Where the Technology Ate the Analysis
An elective module on contemporary Australian voices culminates in a multimodal presentation: students create a 4-5 minute digital text connecting a contemporary Australian text to a human experience, with a 400-word reflection. A student, Jonah, submits a polished video: drone footage of his suburb, a licensed song, and on-screen text quoting a poem.
708 words, about 4 min5The Common Module and the Student Who Will Not Speak
In a common module unit on texts and human experiences, a Year 12 class of 22 includes a student, Aisha, who has not spoken in class discussions for eight weeks. She submits written work that is consistently strong - her paragraph on how a memoir represents collective memory scored 17/20 - but she has twice left the room during the assessed group presentation rehearsal.
687 words, about 3 min