Extra Curricular Activities
As well as teaching the skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening and drama in lessons, the English Department actively encourages girls to develop these skills further outside the classroom.
Our regular competitions always have a high level of involvement and the girls find that their participation is a fun way of learning:
House Debates
House debating competitions involve girls from each key stage and the motions proposed stimulate a high level of debate on a range of contentious issues.
Photos of the House Debates (see below):
Lit Quiz
The annual Lit Quiz is always a popular event for Key Stage 3 when the girls form teams and are tested on their knowledge of popular fiction as well as the classics. The winning team are then entered in a regional competition.
Photos of the Key Stage 3 annual Lit Quiz (see below):
National Poetry Day
National Poetry Day is always a big event at the High School. Girls are always keen to enter their verse in our ‘Poetry Slam’ – an entertaining occasion involving live performances of their creations in a series of knock-out rounds. This year’s theme – ‘Identity’ – attracted dozens of entries from Year 7 to the Sixth Form. A member of staff even had a go! The winner, Rosie Corner delighted everyone with an hilarious performance of her poem:
‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’
Gentlemen prefer blondes,
But those men who prize intelligence Have historically married brunettes.
I was born a Nordic blonde,
Transgressed to mousy brown for my formative years,
Then to cosmic red for a dose of teenage anarchy.
Perhaps I may return to my natural blonde,
And fool weak-minded men into thinking that I’m as stupid as I look,
Though never forgetting that even great women, like Lady Di, were golden haired.
Being crimson headed has brought its own trials and tribulations,
Finding ever more fiery hues, while avoiding gingeritis like the plague.
Sometimes I think of shaving it all off and starting over again
Because however hard I try to strip the peroxide layers away,
I’ll never be mousy brown again.
Trips and Visits
Theatre trips organised by the department are always popular, whether they support the study of a set text or are simply for pleasure. On this year’s trip list are:
- ‘The Alchemist’ at the national Theatre in London for the Sixth Form who are studying the play at A level;
- A Year 10 trip to Newcastle’s Theatre Royal to see the thrilling ‘Woman in Black’;
- ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ for Year 9;
- ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ for Year 8;
- A show by Andrew Motion – the Poet Laureate;
- A Sixth Form study day on the poetry of William Blake.
Reading
One of our central aims is to foster a love of literature and the English department works closely with the school librarian to achieve this. Our Readit scheme is a programme devised to promote the habit of independent reading for pleasure at Key Stage 3.
There are also regular reading groups for girls of all ages which meet regularly to chat about a wide variety of titles proposed by the girls themselves. The Sixth Form schedule this year includes: ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, ‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘1984’, ‘Angela’s Ashes’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.
Drama
As well as the main school production – this year ‘The Secret Garden’, the English Department produce an annual Middle School Production. In the summer of 2006 girls in Years 7 and 8 staged a performance of ‘The Tempest’ and we are now busy with our rehearsals for ‘The Silver Sword’. As well as performing, the girls are responsible for backstage, sound and lighting.
Year 9 girls, in partnership with the City Council’s Department of Environment and Health, are involved in an annual tour of local primary schools with a pantomime written and produced by the girls themselves.