About Shakespeare Academy

At Shakespeare Academy, we prepare students for both academic and personal success.

We design and develop all our courses to help students meet the challenges and demands of testing. Our content is fun, informative, and engaging – our goal is to foster a genuine enjoyment of English literature while helping students achieve their best results!

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Our customised curriculum helps students develop their skills to speak, think and express themselves in the classroom – an integral part of their communication skills!

We teach our students the fundamental building blocks of English language and literature. We encourage them to expand and develop their intellect. In short:

we provide students with vital skills in order to succeed at school, the HSC or IB, university – and beyond.

Shakespeare Academy students are prepared for classes, exams and any other area in their life requiring verbal and written communication.

William Poulos

Our philosophy is simple,
but the benefits for our students
reach far into their future.

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Suitable for: Years 11-12 | Duration: 3 hours a day for 3 days; 9 hours total

About:

You don’t need to be a witch to write good essays. You will need to, however, gather your notes and ideas, put them on trial, and – if necessary – curse them. By the end of this course, you will have notes that will survive any trial, either in the courtroom or the exam room. During this course you will also use these notes to develop your answers to a range of essay questions. This course prepares for the HSC Advanced English Paper 1, Section II.

Student Writing Outcomes:

  • Introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions based on The Crucible; and

Student Learning Objectives:

  • Reviewing and redrafting essays;

Suitable for: Year 11 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)

About:

You love gossip. Don’t try to deny it. Who doesn’t like hearing about a scandal? Ever talked to your friends about what your other friends are doing when they say they’re “busy”? Maybe they’re shopping. Maybe they’re on dates. Maybe they’re part of an international spy organisation. Or maybe you should mind your own business.

The tragedy Othello, written by our man Big Billy Shakes, shows us the dangers of gossip, as the sly, cunning Iago causes the downfall of a military general, Othello, by doing little more than creating and spreading rumours. Furthermore, Othello, one of the first black protagonists in English literature, struggles with the racist remarks of those around him.

In every lesson, students read extracts from Shakespeare’s text and then analyse how the literary techniques create meaning and explore the themes of the play. Students are also given a range of secondary readings that present alternative perspectives of the play. Each week, students are asked to provide written responses for homework, including essays, opinion pieces, and creative responses.

Student Writing Outcomes:

  • Opinion pieces about the extracts and characters studied in class;
  • Analytical paragraphs or partial essays about the extracts studied; and
  • Full essays about the themes and concerns of the play.

Student Learning Objectives:

  • Reviewing and consolidating an extensive list of techniques for literary analysis;
  • Understanding Shakespearean language;
  • Understanding the characters, themes, and context of Othello;
  • Having the tools to analyse and write about Shakespeare’s plays in opinion pieces and essays;
  • Considering the similarities and differences between people today and people in Shakespeare’s time;
  • Organising and writing literary notes in preparation for essays and exams; and
  • Evaluating Shakespeare’s responses to questions we still have today.

Suitable for: Years 8-10 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)

About:

Shipwrecks, cross-dressing, lost siblings, unrequited love, drinking and duelling, and the ultimate prank: yes, this is none other than Shakespeare’s festive comedy Twelfth Night! Beneath the play’s comic surface lies a range of more serious issues: class differences, gender inequality, and how much ‘fun’ is too much. You’ll get to discuss them all here at Shakespeare Academy!

In this course, you will learn about both the joy and melancholy of Twelfth Night. In every lesson, students read extracts from Shakespeare’s text and then analyse how the literary techniques create meaning and explore the themes of the play. Students are also given a range of secondary readings that present alternative perspectives of the play. Each week, students are asked to provide written responses for homework, including essays, opinion pieces, and creative responses. At the end of the course, students are equipped to analyse, understand, and appreciate Shakespeare’s other plays.

Student Writing Outcomes:

  • Opinion pieces about the extracts and characters studied in class;
  • Analytical paragraphs or partial essays about the extracts studied; and
  • Detailed literary notes organised in booklets based on characters and themes.

Student Learning Objectives:

  • Reviewing and consolidating an extensive list of techniques for literary analysis;
  • Understanding Shakespearean language;
  • Understanding the characters, themes, and context of Twelfth Night;
  • Having the tools to analyse and write about Shakespeare’s plays in opinion pieces and essays;
  • Responding creatively to a range of scenarios related to Twelfth Night;
  • Considering the similarities and differences between people today and people in Shakespeare’s time;
  • Organising and writing literary notes in preparation for essays and exams;
  • Evaluating Shakespeare’s responses to questions we still have today.

Suitable for: Years 10-11 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)
Additional Material Fee: $20 (one text)

About:

It’s alive! Have you ever created a monster? We don’t mean a bad essay; we mean something that has a life of its own and frightens people. How would you react if you did create a monster?

Maybe you have never made a monster. Maybe you have written a bad post on social media? Made a bad video? We all know about ideas that initially sounded good and then went beyond everyone’s control. Initially a ghost story, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a novel about one of those interesting ideas that went horribly wrong. The novel asks if technological advance always improves human lives and asks how humans relate to their families and societies.

If you’re worried about the advances of technology (and at least one of our teachers is terrified by them) then Frankenstein is the novel for you. Costumes are optional.

Student Writing Outcomes:

  • Opinion pieces about the chapters studied in class;
  • Analytical paragraphs or partial essays about themes in the novel;
  • Full essays about the novel;
  • Creative responses to the themes and concerns expressed in the novel.

Student Learning Objectives:

  • Reviewing and consolidating an extensive list of techniques for analysing novels;
  • Understanding the mindset and challenges of people from a different period of history;
  • Having the tools to analyse and write about novels in opinion pieces and essays;
  • Considering the similarities and differences between people today and people in the 1830s; and
  • Evaluating the novel’s explorations of questions we still ask today.

Suitable for: Years 7-8 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total

Student Writing Outcomes:

  • Original poetry inspired by the poems studied in class;
  • Opinion pieces about the poems studied in class; and
  • Analytical paragraphs or partial essays about the poems studied.

Course Outline

  • Lesson 1: Introduction to Poetry
  • Lesson 2: The Language of Literature
  • Lesson 3: ‘We Real Cool’
  • Lesson 4: Life, Death, and Between
  • Lesson 5: Invictus
  • Lesson 6: Sonnets – A History
  • Lesson 7: Shakespearean Sonnets
  • Lesson 8: Sonnets after Shakespeare
  • Lesson 9: Nature
  • Lesson 10: Conclusion

Suitable for: Years 8-9 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)
Additional Material Fee: $40 (two texts)

About:

Ah, the 20th century. Your grandparents helped shape it, your parents have lived through it, and you’ve learnt about some of its major historical events. But did you know that literature from the 20th century explores issues and ideas very similar to today’s? In this course students will study and analyse prose fiction from the 20th century, including works by George Orwell, Franz Kafka, and James Joyce. Students learn how to analyse and interpret texts based on context, and how to write essay and creative responses to the material studied. At the end of the course, students gain a thorough understanding of 20th century prose fiction and how the literary ideas have carried on into the 21st century.

Student Writing Outcomes:

  • Opinion pieces about the texts studied;
  • One short story (creative writing); and
  • Analytical paragraphs or essays about the texts.

Student Learning Objectives:

  • Reviewing and consolidating an extensive list of techniques for analysing prose fiction;
  • Understanding the mindset and values of people from the wider 20th century;
  • Having the tools to analyse and write about prose fiction in opinion pieces and essays;
  • Considering the intersection between literature and politics;
  • Analysing the literary uses of allegory and anthropomorphism; and
  • Evaluating the relevance of 20th century fiction today.

Suitable for: Years 8-10 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)

About:

Romeo and Juliet might be Shakespeare’s most famous play, but how well do you know it, really? Do you know what it means to bite your thumb at someone? What is an apothecary? In this course we will answer these questions while asking what Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers can tell us about love, marriage, and listening to your parents. In every lesson, students read an extract from Romeo and Juliet and then analyse how the literary techniques in the extract create meaning and explore the themes of the play. The students are then asked to share their analyses with the class and to write analytical paragraphs. Students are taught effective note-taking techniques and fill in two notes booklets based on characters and themes, which they can use as their final study notes for any school exams. At the end of the course, students are equipped to analyse Shakespeare’s other plays.

Student Writing Outcomes:

  • Opinion pieces about the extracts and characters studied in class;
  • Analytical paragraphs or partial essays about the extracts studied; and
  • Detailed literary notes organised in booklets based on characters and themes.

Student Learning Objectives:

  • Reviewing and consolidating an extensive list of techniques for poetry analysis;
  • Understanding Shakespearean language;
  • Understanding the characters, themes, and context of Romeo and Juliet;
  • Having the tools to analyse and write about Shakespeare’s plays in opinion pieces and essays;
  • Considering the similarities and differences between people today and people in Shakespeare’s time;
  • Organising and writing literary notes in preparation for essays and exams; and
  • Evaluating Shakespeare’s responses to questions we still have today.

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