News from the English Department

Year 7 Author Visit

Year 7 enjoyed a wonderful talk from children’s author Alice Hemming on the morning of Friday 13 March. Alice spoke about her life as an author, covering how she became a writer, what inspired her as a child, how she moved from picture books to full length novels and her dreams of owning an amazing writing shed. We were also treated to a reading from her most recent book, The Darkest Unicorn, published only last week! It was a real treat to find out about how she plans her books, with a unique insight into the processes involved in developing plot and characters and keeping track of word counts. Year 7 had dozens of questions afterwards and were then able to have copies of Alice’s books signed and dedicated.

HOUSE : Creative Writing Competition

We were delighted to welcome Alice back at lunchtime to award the prizes for our House Creative Writing Competition, after judging the entries with Mrs Newbold and Ms Hobbs earlier that morning. Students had been challenged to write the opening chapter of a mystery story in 800 words or fewer and the interpretations of the task ranged from chilling supernatural tales to wisecracking New York detective stories. All of the entries were hugely enjoyable to read so it was a daunting job selecting the winners. Everyone who entered is to be congratulated on their imagination, attention to detail and inventiveness; we certainly have a lot of talented budding authors at Presdales!

The winning authors were:
Year 7 – Martha Ker – Curie House
Year 8 – Daisy Reid – Pankhurst House
Year 9 – Evelyn Youngman – Nightingale House
Year 10 – Madison Carter John – Windsor House
Year 11 – Anthe Beston – Windsor House
Sixth Form – Deborah Green – Parks House

Staff were also encouraged to enter and the joint first prize in that category was awarded to Mrs Teal and Mr Boyter.

Thanks and well done to everyone who entered and to Alice for so kindly giving her time and expertise.