It has been A WEEK! And they’re all busy until the end of term!

Book day is always such a highlight, seeing students getting dressed up, expressing themselves and showing a love of literature is such a joy! The English department came as Roald Dahl characters. I dressed up as Willy Wonka and had two students, to my shock horror, ask who I was! I responded by telling them they needed to read more. Always, always, read more.One student did bashfully reply they did think I was Mr Wonka, but they weren’t sure, so I won’t hold it against him. 

L-R - Willy Wonka, Augustus Gloop, Miss Honey, Matilda, The Grand High Witch, Mary Maloney and The Enormous Crocodile

We also ran our Senior Speech competition, results will be announced in assembly next week. It is such a treat to listen to some of our most articulate young people share their thoughts on a range of topics; from “Can you separate the art from the artist?”, “The pressures of cultural identity” to “PFAs - or Forever Chemicals”. It is clear that all our speakers are engaged with their learning, are reading and watching a wide range of content regularly and are thinking critically about what they see, read and hear. This is what it’s all about!

Senior Speech Contestants (On Book Day) L-R Monica Hahn, Jayden Gelacio, Ellie Olsen-Vetlan and Annaliese Bisset (Not pictured: Erin Turner)

Our word of the week was Auspicious: conducive to success; favourable. And so with upcoming CAA tests and Derived Grade exams, it would be auspicious for all students to be creating a study plan, re-reading their notes and classroom content, as well as managing their stress - hopefully by reading a book!

What We’re Reading: I have been listening to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned. I had only ever read The Great Gatsby, as another of his well known classics. I am only about a third of the way through, but think I enjoy this more! There is an interesting narrator’s voice who is sitting back and judging the high society characters, who I am finding quite amusing! 

Ms Beaumont - HOD English