Text into Performance

see! It took a lot of self-control to climb back down into my world but my need to keep this place a secret got me back down the tunnel in time to greet my mother when she came home. I told myself I would be back tomorrow, and that I shall be.

Until tomorrow, adventure awaits, Martin.”

Judges response: In a time when most of us were stuck indoors, with only limited contact with our friends and family, Cecilia’s story reminds us of the escapism that books provide and the importance of feeding your imagination. It was also lovely to see a plot where unlikely friendships formed in the place of prejudice and fear.

Upper School Winner: Rowan Reddy

“Grayson, however, was watching the void carefully, and not without a little apprehension. There was nothing out there now except stars, and the tiny shadows of other spaceships, but he knew how quickly it could appear. He’d met it before.

The Dragon.

It roamed the infinite darkness, shapeshifting, growing six wings and then two wings and then none. Its eyes were always the same, though. Flat and black like that of a shark. Planet-eater, some called it, but Grayson didn’t believe in giving names to monsters. The Dragon was not Judges response: A bleak story for bleak times. Rowan's story takes place in the vastness of outer space, a far cry from the underground tunnels of the previous story or the confines of its readers' bedrooms. But in its vastness lies the loneliness of Rowan’s characters, with humanity spread out and separated by all of her universe, the reader is left to question can we still connect to save each other? Staff commented that Rowan’s story was as skillfully written as some published work they had read. A promising talent, we look forward to seeing more creative work from these pupils.

Year 7 explored ‘text into performance’ using Frankenstein as the text.They discussed some of the key themes and ideas in this seminal story of invention, creation and destruction and read an abridged version of the play before moving on to create their own 'Creature' from recyclable materials. They were extraordinarily inventive: using craft paper, plastics, textiles, socks and bottle tops to create their own inventions.They then performed an extract of the play using their puppets as actors.

The English Department thoroughly enjoyed hosting an exciting and full morning's enrichment for these pupils.

Heroes and Villains with Andy Briggs

Year 7 spent several weeks creating their own stories, featuring an amazing hero and villain. Each pupil created a hero and/or villain to feature in the opening chapter of their imagined story. The top eighteen across the year were judged by Andy Briggs: the winner was Mai Anh Nguyen (7X). Andy gave personalised feedback to the finalists and presented to all of Y7 about his experiences of the writer, screenwriter and producer.