Early in the summer term, the English department organised Shakespeare competitions and activities in honour of his birth and death day.  

The first competition was a quiz, with knowledge about Shakespeare’s life and works; there were very high scores from every entrant! Our joint winners, who both got full marks and then even gavethe same response to the tie-break, are Daisy, year 7 and Mme Pilia-Jones – well done to both.

Bushcraft was a very good experience in many ways, we learnt new skills that will benefit us in the future; learnt how to survive in the wild; how to deal with bugs; but most importantly, we met new people, had fun, and enjoyed being outside, admiring nature we are so lucky to have!

On Tuesday the 18th May, all the Year 7s went head to head in the annual Wheelie Challenge, to design a board to pitch their business ideas.

Here’s the catch: you had to involve up to six wheels in your business idea. 

Whilst some of us used double-decker buses, others came up with the idea of mini robots gliding around shops.

During Activities Week at the end of last term, we had the opportunity to take part in some wilderness team building activities. These were based around the voyage of the explorer Ernest Shackleton, who led a team of men to the Antarctic. His experience was a great example to us of important leadership skills and also how all members of a team can contribute in different ways.

Across this academic year, the English Department are celebrating significant literary figures with activities and competitions related to their lives and works. At the end of last term, we marked Jane Austen’s birthday, and students were invited to write creatively using Austen’s famous opening ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged…’; Xuan  in Year 10 wrote the winning piece.

Last year, I wrote about the House year being like no other and how I hoped a return to normality would mean we could put on more house events this year. I did not think then that this year would be more affected than the last.