CURRICULUM // ENGLISH & ICT
CREATIVE WRITING CHALLENGE
SHADOWS BY JACK DEWHIRST YEAR 1
Once on a dark winter night , young Billy was lost in the deep lamp-lit alleyway to the stars . He was alone with no company to make him laugh or to talk to . He decided that it was a good time to write a story , his story ... the story of when the shadows come ...
It began on a beautiful summer evening , just Billy and his mum , Juno , sunbathing together one last time , but they didn ’ t know that , not yet anyway .
Juno said ‘ come on now , dinner time ’ as the beeping of the oven sounded .
Billy walked back into the house and turned round to look back at the setting of the sun , but it was not there , it was pitch black outside . Then he heard a shrilling scream that sounded like his mum . He rushed to find her , but he couldn ’ t she just wasn ’ t anywhere : not in the kitchen , not in the bedroom , nowhere ! Then he heard voices ‘ shadows , they are coming , the shadows are coming for you , run !’
Billy ran towards the door , but it closed just before he got there . Then he heard footsteps , clunk , clunk , clunk , they were getting even louder , clunk , clunk , clunk . He thought ‘ this can ’ t be happening , no one else is here ’, but how wrong he was . He ran up the stairs and found himself face to face with a hooded figure , head to toe in a pitchblack cloak . The footsteps had stopped . This was the person that made them .
‘ Who are you ?’ Billy whimpered ‘ and what are you doing here ?’
‘ I am the shadow warrior !’ it said in a high-pitched hiss , ‘ and I have come to embark your journey . The end of the world is hear , and my leader has come against our former laws : A shadow army is rising , and it is prophesised that you will bring light to the worlds . I am a rebel , the last one left . You must go to the alleyway and take a gateway to the stars . He grabbed Billy by the neck and threw him out of the window . He didn ’ t know what was going to happen next , but it was going to be bumpy ...
Judged by : Grace Beckett , Ben Wilkinson and Jasper Law
ENGLISH
An inspirational talk by Professor Tom McLeish : The Poetry and Music of Science - Comparing Creativity in Science and Art – was held in October 2019 .
In this talk Tom focused on the deep entanglement between fictional writing and experimental science , starting with their common early-modern origin , and asking why Wordsworth ’ s vision of science-inspired poetry has not been realised .
The Ars Poetica genre of Henry James ’ s Art of the Novel and physiologist William Beveridge ’ s Art of Scientific Investigation revealed another common narrative plot : the story of human creativity itself .
After the talk , Tom signed copies of his book for an appreciative audience .
BTEC ICT STUDENTS BUSINESS VISIT
Lower Sixth BTEC Information and Communications Technology ( ICT ) students had a wonderful afternoon visiting Old Pocklingtonian Lucy Scarah , who operates a wonderful store named ‘ Helson Street ’ offering a unique take on rustic pieces and floristry .
The visit gave students the opportunity to talk to Lucy about all aspects of business , including the power of social media !
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