Making the headlines: Year 7 & 8 tasks

It has been a busy, fun and productive first term for the lower years! In between studies of core texts (Simon Armitage's take on the 14th-century masterpiece Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and a range of poetry by the 18th-century Romantics), there have been opportunities for shorter units and enrichment work.

The Year 8s completed a brief journalism unit which culminated in the classroom becoming the newsroom for an hour. In this time, they created the front page of a newspaper by a fixed deadline. This involved selecting the best of the available news, arranging the layout, deciding on the headlines and writing the opening sentences... but they hadn't anticipated the arrival of a series of late-breaking stories! Everyone had to pull together to send the finished product to the printers by the hard deadline (good practice for homework submission!).

The Year 8s have also been studying persuasive speeches, looking in particular at the effect of rhetorical devices. They started by studying Malala’s famous speech at the UN and then moved on to writing their own speeches on topics close to their heart. Sophie GS and Enaaya C drew upon rhetorical questions, a direct address to the audience and emotive use of statistics to write a powerful speech on the need for less homework – it was highly persuasive!

Among a varied range of tasks, Year 7 students were asked to write book reviews on novels read in connection with Black History Month. They have also been honing their creative writing skills in preparation for descriptive tasks.

A homework task for one Year 7 class involved writing a brief passage about a dog called Cosmo... without using a single letter E (inspired by French writer Georges Perec). The aim was to encourage students to consider more carefully the vocabulary they use from one moment to the next. Here is one example from Amelie H:

Cosmo was running across moors, darting from bouncy tufts of grass and rolling through muddy hills. His soft fur was thick and brown, billowing wildly, for a strong gust of wind was continuously blowing towards us. His paws springing to and fro, Cosmo was panting and running towards us, triumphantly having rid us of all birds in sight. Displaying a knowing grin, I thought to pat his fluffy body, but just a quick look at his disgusting paws and muddy fur instantly put an abrupt stop to my plan. Cold winds hit my body harshly, attacking my soul with sharp gusts and icy blasts. Only Cosmo’s wagging tail and dancing actions brought about my waiting.

... and one from Maria Luiza SWS:

Cosmo was on his cushion, staring at a blank spot on a window, watching a fly crashing into it again and again. Cosmo didn’t think it would zoom down and do backflips in front of his pillow as if to annoy him. But it did. Cosmo stood up and swung his paw around, trying to swat it. His paw hit a pot of tulips and brought it down. Jimmy took a look at a shard of it and Cosmo ran away into a curtain. Was Jimmy angry? *nods* Was Cosmo caught? *nods* Did Cosmo put this mishap into words? No. Cosmo’s a dog; dogs don’t talk.

The next term will bring many more opportunities for students to explore and experiment with language beyond our studies of the core texts. Bring on 2023!