We have had a busy and exciting year…here are some snippets of the many and varied experiences the students have been exposed to…

Our very first poetry cabaret evening staged by Years Seven & Eight took place in National Bookweek; there were poems about food, islands, love and a few quirky ghosts, and jazz accompaniment was provided by Tim and Jim.

The poet, Trevor Millum, ran several sparkling writing workshops with the senior years… Nicola Davies made Years Three & Four giggle with her stomach churning animal experiences which inspired group poetry writing … James Mayhew, writer and illustrator, so impressed Years Five & Six with his upside down painting and story-telling that they bought up all his books in the school bookfair…and Clare Bevan performed lively renditions of her poetry for the pre-prep children.

SQUIRT (Silent, quiet, uninterrupted, individual reading time) was officially launched in September so finally there is space each day after lunch just to read.

Year Seven celebrated World Storytelling Day by visiting Nursery to tell them favourite family stories – Christie’s many tales about his accident prone Grandpa could have kept them amused for weeks!

Tuesday 28^th April saw Dolphin’s inaugural Creative Writing day; favourite words were plastered all over the classroom walls, letters from insects were written to Year Two, adverts were designed for a brand new games console and a day at Dolphin was described in Manga or Beano style.

And our Year Eight attended a GCSE poetry day at the Hexagon, which gave them the opportunity to meet a range of leading contemporary poets, such as Simon Armitage, John Agard and Carol Ann Duffy, and listen to their work.

Judy Seall