Year 8 English – An Online Wonder!

Some people wonder if our students engage in online learning and whether it is a poor substitute for face-to-face teaching. Well, here at Aquinas, our Year 8’s have been showing that they can excel at learning in remote lessons.

This half-term, in English, they have been studying Victorian fiction including extracts from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. The lessons have required detailed analysis of the texts and this week, some of my classes were writing comparative essays.

To say I have been blown away by the standard of many of the students’ work is an understatement. I had students commenting that ‘Jane Eyre is fighting against the patriarchal society that existed in the Victorian era’ and questioning, ‘Do you think that Miss Abbot from Jane Eyre has expectations of Jane, as a woman, that require her to be a stereotypical well-mannered girl because of her gender?’ One student even commented that ‘society’s hierarchy caused divisions between Victorian people.’ These are comments that I would expect from an A’ level class and for this to be the product of online chat in Teams, I think it shows the calibre of students we have in our school.

Well done Year 8! I am so proud of you.

Mrs Ulmkalns
English Department