English

Despite initial fears that forced exclusion from school would be damaging to pupils’ academic progress, we should have known that they would adapt and excel in the same way they always have done, settling into Teams and remote learning as if they’d never known anything different. The calibre of work and endeavour, at all levels, has been hugely impressive over these past few months. I have noticed in many an accelerated development of independent learning skills, with routine assignments planned, executed and edited much more carefully than they would have been under normal conditions and the constant juggling of tight deadlines. In English we have also witnessed a blossoming of student initiative, nowhere more so than in Zoe Blackburn’s launch of a ‘virtual LitSoc’: meeting together at the end of every week, with discussion often extending beyond the designated hour, we have enjoyed presentations on writers as diverse as Jericho Brown, Mary Shelley, Rudyard Kipling, Anthony Burgess, Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens.

In the earlier part of the school year we were pleased to welcome local author Vicky Holmes to Churcher’s. Creator of the popular ‘Warrior Cats’ series, Vicky delivered a workshop for the First Years, culminating in a 500 word story competition (won by Albert Wheeler, with Moritz Flohr and Lily Brady highly commended). Our other most significant visitor was Dr Sophie Duncan, Fellow in English at Christ Church, Oxford, who gave a workshop on Ibsen’s A Doll’s House to our Sixth Form students, followed by a broader contextual lecture on the representations of women in Victorian literature. Already familiar to our students from her series of Massolit lectures, Sophie was enthusiastically received and we hope to be welcoming her back soon.

Another highlight of the year was the ESU public speaking competition. So popular was it amongst local schools this year that we were asked to host

a preliminary round at Churcher’s before the holding of the local heats at the Bishops’ Palace in Chichester. In the first round, in front of ESU training cameras, our Fourth Year team of Hannah Martin, Peter Elsom and Maddy Sutcliffe saw off their opposition in fine style, not only winning the heat but also being awarded best chair (Hannah) and outstanding personality (Maddy, for her amusing speech on the prospects of colonising Mars). Meanwhile the Fifth Years (Amy Gaisford, Ellie Houghton and Ollie Fogelin) not only made it to the Bishops’ Palace but also stormed through to the regional final in Mayfair (unfortunately postponed owing to the coronavirus outbreak). Speaking on the topic ‘The Media Manufactures Public Opinion’, Amy spearheaded the team to a memorable victory, with Ollie deservedly being adjudged best chair.

Plans for summer theatre trips were sadly cancelled, though we did get to see an interesting RSC production of Measure for Measure at the Barbican before Christmas. We are fortunate in having been given online access to many theatre productions since Easter, but let’s hope we’ll soon be back enjoying them live on stage.

Dr D Cave

“I have noticed in many an accelerated development of independent learning skills”