Millionaire Reader
The Accelerated Reader scheme is proving to be extremely successful with lower school pupils. The amount of books being read and the success with the online quizzes has risen considerably since September. In fact, we have had our first Millionaire! Congratulations to Aaliya in Year 7, for reading over a million words – this is a fantastic achievement.

Monster Zoo Visit
130 year 7 pupils went to Blackpool Zoo to get ‘up close’ to wild animals as part of their English topic – ‘Monsters’. Pupils saw tigers, gorillas and elephants as well as having a talk on predators from the zoo keepers. Pupils were able to touch: a tiger’s skull, a snake skin, and hold a Madagascan Hissing Cockroach!
Staff and pupils alike had a fantastic day at the zoo, and the students have been able to produce some excellent pieces of descriptive writing as a consequence.

Quarry Bank Mill Visit
In order to give pupils a real understanding of Victorian life, whilst studying 19th Century Literature, the English department took 100 year 9 pupils to Quarry Bank Mill, near Manchester. Here the students were able to experience the living and working conditions of Victorian apprentices. The visit allowed the pupils to gain a better understanding of the social conditions that they have read about in Oliver Twist and Great Expectations and the context in which writers such as Dickens and Blake were writing.