This Monday, with the support of Mr Crooks and Mr Ahern, I took 30 students – from across Y9, 10 and 12 – to Elizabeth Gaskell’s house, in Manchester. Few people know that the writer behind amazing 19^th Century novels, like North and South, lived right here, on our door step! So we took the opportunity to see her home, hear all about her life and works and then settle down for a refreshing drink and a slice of homemade cake.

 

Before we set off, I walked these brilliant students – selected for their commitment to English, and passion for the subject – through some historical fiction freewriting activities, taking a leaf out of Gaskell’s book; she wrote a historical novel too, called Sylvia’s Lovers. We wrote about transformative moments from Manchester’s history and some students even had the bravery to read out their work for immediate feedback from their peers: it was great to see such self-confidence and creativity demonstrated!

 

All of the students were lovely and patient on what was (to my mind) the most horrendously hot day! I must give a special ‘shout out’ to Martha Adams, Abigail Park and Lucy Gibson, who are our Y12 English Ambassadors: they were wonderful for working alongside our younger stars of the subject! 

 

Ms C Spencer-Cruise