KS3 student of the month is Elouise Bacon.

Year 8 are currently exploring the work of Contemporary Authors. One of the texts that Year 8 students are studying is Face, written by the hugely talented Benjamin Zephaniah. As part of the topic, we look at characters, plot developments and language usage, amongst many other things.These are very difficult skills to develop and it requires a great deal of practice to hone the techniques and processes necessary for the subject matter. Essentially, the skills are to provide a basis for students embarking on their GCSE year.

Elouise Bacon throughout the term has produced excellent pieces of work, many to an exceptionally high standard. One piece in particular is a 'What Happens Next?' task, in which pupils had to consider the events that occurred in a chapter of Face, and then decide how the story would develop. This task required pupils to use their prior knowledge of the book, as well as adhering to the conventions utilised by Benjamin Zephaniah, to predict and present the storyline.

This creative yet challenging task inspired Elouise to produce a comprehensive yet accurate portrayal of the events proceeding chapter 5. In addition to this, she accompanied her work with beautiful and artistic illustrations to complete her work superbly.

Miss D Locker, Teacher of English

KS4 student of the month is Gemma Powell.

One of the tasks for Unit 3 part b: 'Producing Creative Texts' of the GCSE English Language controlled assessments is to recreate a text. Students need to use a poem as the basis for a short story. Gemma chose the poem 'The Falling Leaves' by Margaret Postgate-Cole as she had previously studied this as part of her GCSE English Literature course. Gemma decided to recreate this poem as a story, writing in the first person.

Students need to:

• communicate clearly and imaginatively, using and adapting forms and selecting vocabulary appropriate to task and purpose in ways that engage the reader,
• organise information and ideas using a variety of linguistic and structural devices,
• use a range of sentence structures with accurate punctuation and spelling.

Gemma's writing was deemed to be sophisticated and impressive. She presented the subject matter in a measured way, skilfully using language and consistently crafting for impact. There was an impressive sense of immersion in the chosen genre.

Her work was awarded 9 out of 10 which placed it in the top band – an impressive achievement! 

An extract from Gemma's Work can be read here.

Miss H Walker, Assistant Head of English