English

It is only fitting to begin this year’s English Department round-up with a tribute to Dr David Cave, Head of Department for 24 years. Having sadly passed away at the start of the school year following his retirement, the department put on a ‘poetry and prose’ evening, with pupils and staff reading and reciting nature-themed works of literature, such as W.H. Davies’s ‘Leisure’. It was a beautiful evening, and a fitting celebration for Dr Cave’s legacy. No longer in the thick of Covid and lockdowns, it was an absolute joy to return to the lively and vibrant, extracurricular programme the English Department has always run, including the likes of the Book Club, Literacy Club, Oxbridge English, English Speaking Union, competitions, and LitSoc events. The Autumn Term saw a Gothic themed LitSoc event for Sixth Formers, to complement their study of Gothic literature. Joined by author Nick Johnston-Jones, the students delivered dramatic readings of famous Gothic texts, had the opportunity to ask questions about his writing, and undertook a series of gothic-inspired literary quizzes and activities. The younger years, meanwhile, delighted in Mrs Daniel’s ‘Haunted Library’ event, with some pupils loving it so much they sneaked in for a second go!

The Autumn Term, into the Spring Term, also saw the English Speaking Union competition take place. Our teams did remarkably well, and Team 2 even made it to the Regional Final, held here at Churcher’s College. A huge well done to our ESU team on their amazing achievements!

Later in the Spring Term, the Fourth Year were visited by a theatre company who performed Macbeth, one of their coursework texts, providing a starting point for excellent class discussion and debate. A few weeks later, it was World Book Day – as well as a big celebration in the library, form groups also got involved through a ‘decorate your door’ competition, in which pupils competed to create the best literary representation on their form room doors. Most creative, was 1D with ‘The Northern Lights’; cleverest, was 3R with ‘Where’s Wally’; most visually appealing, was 1N with ‘the Explorer’; and closest link to classroom subject, was 2R with ‘The Life of Pi’.

In the Summer Term, a group of Sixth Form students attended a production of ‘The Bloody Chamber’, one of their set texts. Two of our A Level students were selected to attend a prestigious taster day at St. John’s College, Oxford. Finally, the year was topped off by finding that Churcher’s College had been selected for the runner up award in the Young Writers’ creative writing competition, and had won an enormous pile of books for the school library! Congratulations to all!