Extra Curricular Activities

The English department offers a wealth of extra-curricular activities in English.

Key Stage 3

There is Book Club with Mrs Davda. This is a lovely opportunity to meet once a week, read an inspirational book or play, drink hot Vimto and eat biscuits! It is open to all pupils in Key Stage 3.
 
Mrs Woodhouse, Miss Masefield and Miss Hodgson have recently started a one night residential trip to London to watch a musical and take part in a performing arts workshop in the West End. All pupils who attend drama club at lunchtimes and after school are invited to attend.
 
Drama club is open to all ages and abilities and runs at lunchtimes and after school. It takes place in our purpose-built drama studio and is the ideal opportunity to get involved in school productions, drama games and activities and make new friends. 
 
Every year the school enters teams for the Rotary Club ‘Youth Speaks’ competition. This is a high profile event involving many local schools and is a brilliant way of developing confidence and formal speaking skills.

The department also runs our ‘Penwortham Girls Literary Festival’ once a year – usually coinciding with World Book Day. Various events take place in that week. Year 7 dress up as their favourite book character (as do the English staff!) and help out at our Primary Spelling Bee event. Year 8 undertake a verse speaking competition alongside external poetry writing competitions and Radio 2’s 500 words. Year 9 enjoy a visit from a theatre company providing a Shakespeare performance and interactive workshop. The event culminates in our Readathon – a charity sponsored read where we raise money for children’s charities such as Clic Sargeant and the Roald Dahl foundation.

Key Stage 4

The highlight of Year 11 is our annual trip to London in December for some West End theatre and, more importantly, some Christmas shopping! So far we have watched Shrek, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Woman in Black. This year it’s ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. We stay in Central London, enjoy culture, food, shopping and the glorious sights of London at Christmas.
 
Year 10 pupils can get involved in paired reading. This is a really valuable activity where our older pupils help Year 7 pupils who are struggling with reading at our Breakfast Club.
 
We also ensure that Year 10 and 11 get any opportunity possible to watch live theatre, either by attending local productions or inviting actors into our school. We even went on a marathon trip to Hull last year to watch ‘A Taste of Honey’!