Secondary News

Year 7 English

Year 7 students have been focusing on working collaboratively this term, and getting hands-on with their learning. The results have been fantastic!

Year 7 English

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Year 7 English

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Gothic Literature

A Gothic Story written by the 2017 Year Seven Classes - one paragraph at a time - in the classrooms of Mr Atkinson and Ms Kocevska - Inspired by the writing style of Lemony Snicket and the Ten Elements of Gothic Literature

Setting - Dilapidated school in the 19th Century.

FIRST INSTALLMENT

Creak! The floorboard bent under the weight of Max Groomer. Max was a new student at Wallace Girls Academy for Boys. The classrooms of the Academy were dusty and rusty. There were unexplained holes in the walls, which the teachers insisted 'added character.' The building did have a certain charm, from the outside. However, the inside was home to many strange occurrences. During the 18th century, it was rumoured to be the site of an asylum, built atop a graveyard. Max was certain that on especially quiet days, he could hear the whispers of long-dead tortured souls. Max preferred to focus on his studies, and ignore the whispers. He had spent the better part of the term trying to fit in. His classmates, however, made this as difficult as possible. The boys had bullied him relentlessly, without realising the real reason he left his previous school. Max took a seat next to Adrian Simon, the only other outcast in the class. Adrian was mumbling to himself, which unnerved Max. Somehow, their strange friendship worked, however. Suddenly-from outside the classroom-Max heard a faint mumble as Kayla Smith got closer. The mumbles became a blood-curdling scream, as Kayla begged for help. Everybody knew who she was. Kayla was the first, and only, girl permitted at the Wallace Girls Academy for Boys. In fact, before Kayla, it was simply called The Wallace Academy for Boys.

Caleb Rattray, the most courageous boy in class, ran out to see what the fuss was about.

SECOND INSTALLMENT

When he got out into the corridor, Caleb couldn’t believe what he saw. Kayla was standing, as still as a statue, gripping the handle to the door of the science laboratory, her knuckles white and tense. Her eyes were wide with fright and her chin trembled as she gave Caleb a tortured glance before averting her terrified gaze back to the cause of her distress. At this point, it is probably timely to explain that Kayla was no ordinary girl. Not only was she the only girl in school, but Kayla was an orphan, with a most perturbing personal history. Her uncle had sent her to Wallace Girls Academy for Boys, in the hope that the shock of being the only girl would help her to dispel the memory of finding her parents’ bloodied bodies, and put a stop to the inevitable screaming fits that had plagued her ever since. She was prone to feverish episodes, during which she became the voice of dead spirits, who used her pale, waif-like form to communicate with those in the Land of the Living. The most disturbing thing about Kayla’s enrolment in Wallace Girls Academy for Boys was that her uncle was a childhood friend of Tudor Thwaites, the cruel and terrifying Headmaster. It was rumoured that he had a deep admiration for the skill that Kayla had exhibited from birth. Some even say that he had conspired to bring her to the school. This rumour fed even more greedily on the mystery behind her parents’ sudden end. Constable Tony Adams had relayed to the local media that in all his years of policing, he had never happened upon such a scene. Nor had they been able to solve the murder mystery. He reported an ‘other-worldly’ feeling in the room throughout the investigation, and started going to church for the first time since his early childhood.

Kayla began speaking, and the blood drained from Caleb’s face.

THIRD INSTALLMENT

She was murmuring in a feverish trance. He could see that she wasn’t herself.

“Kayla. Is everything alright? I heard you crying out for help.”

She stared straight at Caleb, but not a word came out. There was a weird gush of cool air, and a sound like the clatter of keys, as Kayla spun her head directly at a hole in the wall, not far from the laboratory door. A dull light was emanating from the space.

“It was early in the morning. Why did he do that to me? I went there, right after breakfast, and I was feeling so happy. My little cat, Toby, was following me. We were walking to the cliff, not far from my grandmother’s house. Just one road to cross. We had been through the bluebell woods, and I was carrying a huge bunch in my pinafore when I got to Jones Rd. The noise was so loud. It was so loud…the thunder of hooves and dust everywhere… Everywhere. I thought he would stop. But he did not. And I saw his face. Angry. And I swear he saw me. He saw me! How could he do that? How could he? Just…keep…going?”

Caleb knew it wasn’t the voice of Kayla. Firstly, they were the best of friends and shared lunch together every day in the dining room. Secondly, this wasn’t her voice. It was a deeper, raspier voice – and nothing like the sweet voice she usually used.

“Kayla? Can you hear me? Kayla! Kayla!” He gripped her shoulders and shook her gently.

She suddenly snapped out of her trance. She looked tired and confused, and sank to the floor, just as headmaster Thwaites rounded the corner, his bushy eyebrows knotted together in a grimace.

To Be Continued…

Year 7/8 Arabic

Al Salam Alikom and welcome everybody to term 4. Year 7 & 8 Arabic class had an exceptionally bustling begin finding out their hobbies and their friends in a fun and engaging way. Year 7 & 8 Arabic class had a poster competition, everyone worked very hard to win. They have managed to learn and adapting all the new vocabularies.

All students did a stunning and an amazing effort making the poster about hobbies in Arabic.

Well done to Safa Matloub for winning the best poster, congratulations!

At the moment the students are doing a survey about their family member’s hobbies and translating it into Arabic and extract the verbs, nouns, pronouns and Prepositions.

Learning a new language is an amazing experience.
Use language skills as your passport to success!