Ratcliffian 2016 (LOWRES)

ENGLISH
ENGLISH
This academic year has seen the English Department embrace
numerous changes. Mrs Emily Worthington commenced her maternity
leave just weeks before giving birth to twins, Stanley and Penny.
The Department has organised frequent trips to ensure our
students are exposed to the enthralling spectacle of live
theatre. Year 7 were thoroughly entertained by a trip to The
Curve in Leicester to watch Roald Dahl’s The Witches.
In addition Year 11 were taken to see the modern cinematic
adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Our ‘A’ level students
have been lucky enough to attend The Swan Theatre in
Stratford-Upon-Avon to watch Doctor Faustus and to enjoy a
modern production of Hamlet. Lastly, the school welcomed
Mr Tony Chan who ran a full day poetry workshop for all
year groups. Students undoubtedly benefitted from Mr
Chan’s infectious enthusiasm for the Sonnet form as well as
his anecdotal delivery style.
ENGLISH
As a result, the department welcomed Mr Jonathan
Watson as Mrs Worthington’s maternity cover. Dr Luanda
Stannard has subsequently been appointed Acting Head of
Department with Mrs Laura Whieldon as Acting Second.
A Visit from a Poet,
Tony Chan
Nurturing the talents of our students remains at the core
of the Department and this year has provided numerous
opportunities for us to celebrate their achievements. Year
12 student Luke Gyesi-Appiah prepared a stirring and
erudite speech for the Catenian Public Speaking Competition
and will be representing Ratcliffe in the final. The Carnegie
Shadowing group has, once more, proved extremely popular
with students in Years 8 and 9. Miss Thompson and Mrs
Williams spent months discussing the nominated titles, which
included Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick and One by
Sarah Crossan, with a select group of avid readers.
The experience for students was hugely
beneficial in nurturing a love of reading.
In addition, a number of talented Year 8 students attended a
creative writing workshop provided by Leicestershire Creative
Learning Services. Our students were highly inventive and
produced some excellent work.
The Department has
also continued to offer a
diverse extra-curricular
programme. There is
a book club for Years
7-9 which is run by Miss
Thompson and librarian
Mrs Williams. Novels
that have been enjoyed
this year include Infinite
Sky by C.J Flood and
Thirteen by Tom Hoyle.
Additionally, Mrs Whieldon and Dr Stannard led the Staff and
Sixth Form Book Club who met to discuss titles such as The
Bees by Laline Paull and Slade House by David Mitchell. Mr
Benjamin’s Debating Society has continued to draw large
numbers of students wishing to discuss a wide variety of
motions. Mr Benjamin also organised a whole school debate
on the European Referendum, where representatives from
both sides of the argument included Luke Gyesi-Appiah,
Anna Garcia, Max Gilliver and Kieran Bonas. The debate
was extremely lively and demonstrated the capacity of our
students to engage intellectually with important political
matters in a vociferous yet respectful manner.
Saturday 12 th December was a wet
day, but that didn’t dampen the
spirits of the Year 7s’ trip to see The
Witches by Roald Dahl.
We had a superb time! The play is about an
organisation of witches who detest children. Every
five years the witches have a meeting; this year
they have a cunning plan to turn every child into a
mouse. Will they be successful? Join the boy, Bruno
and Grandma in an adventure of a lifetime to save
the children of England.
My favourite part was when the witches had their
meeting and the grand plan to inject candy with the
deadly potion unfolded. I would recommend it to
all ages and would rate it 5 stars!
Oliver Hunt – Year 7
Year 8 were involved in the Young Shakespeare Company’s
interactive workshop based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and
Juliet. J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls and Orwell’s 1984
were plays enjoyed by Year 10 and 12 respectively.
Mr Chan ‘s book of sonnets Four
Points Fourteen Lines is a result of
his seventy-eight day walking tour
of Britain.
After each phase of the 1,400 mile journey,
he wrote a sonnet to reflect upon the day.
Mr Chan’s brutal honesty fascinated us as he
declared that there are only ten decent poems in
the collection. We were all inspired by his creativity
and daring as he even wrote a poem in Italian with
a sonnet structure! The presentation ended on a
thoughtful note as Mr Chan encouraged us to reflect
upon our own emotions, experiences and encounters
when writing, as this is where the most inspiring
ideas originate. The audience were held spellbound,
and many a budding writer was inspired to breathe
life onto a page through a poem.
Luke Gyesi-Appiah – Year 12
In Activities Week, this
year the Department
ran a Poetry Slam for
Year 7. We invited
performance poet
Andy Craven-Griffiths
to deliver an exciting
workshop for the
students and this proved a huge success, with pupils creating
and performing some truly engaging poems.
Dr L Stannard
Acting Head of English
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