Grosvenor In View Magazine 2025

44 DEPARTMENTAL HIGHLIGHTS

The English Department Another busy year in the English Department has come and gone. As well as flourishing in their academic endeavours, our pupils have once again demonstrated their commitment to the extra-curricular life of the department. Literacy Leaders

In February, just after Children’s Mental Health Week, Katie Skillen and Elle Tumilson led a Senior Assembly that focused on the Power of Words and how our use of language can impact our mental health and the mental health of others. This was another reminder of the importance of Literacy for all our pupils in all walks of life – not just the English classroom! Being a Literacy Leader has many benefits for our senior pupils. They get to demonstrate teamwork and leadership skills, as well as getting the opportunity to work with our junior pupils. Our inaugural year of the scheme has been very successful and we look forward to meeting our next cohort of Literacy Leaders next year. Junior Hard Spell 2024 As always, the Junior Hard Spell Competition is a highlight of the school calendar. Every year, we are amazed at the enthusiasm of junior pupils to step outside of their comfort zone and take to the stage in the William Moles Hall. After a number of in-class rounds, Alina Lasrado was crowned Junior Hard Spell Champion for the second year in a row, with Sophie Boyd (8V) Christy de Klerk (8N) tying as runners-up. We look forward to seeing if Alina goes for the hat-trick next year.

For the first time, twenty-five senior pupils were given the opportunity to act as Literacy Leaders – the student voice of Literacy in Grosvenor. It was delightful to see the high numbers of pupils willing to fill this role – a clear sign that our pupils understand the importance of literacy across the curriculum. Literacy Leaders underwent training for the role where they were schooled on whole-school literacy priorities. They then formed three sub-committees – Team Reading, Team Writing and Team Events – allowing for leadership to be distributed according to individual expertise. All Literacy Leaders helped with the junior Literary Hub on Tuesday afternoons. Reps from both the Team Reading and Team Writing committees attended these sessions and led workshops on a range of genres. Team Events established a Literacy Events Timeline and we tried, were possible, to tailor our Hub workshops to national Literacy events. Over the Christmas period, the Literacy Leaders judged the “A Winter Wonderland” Creative Writing Competition. This was won by Jagoda Matlawska (9R), with Sam Young (9S) coming a close runner-up.

Junior Hard Spell Winners pictured from left to right, Sophie Boyd, Alina Lasrado and Christy de Klerk

‘A Winter Wonderland’ Creative Writing Winners, Sam Young and Jagoda Matlawska

GROSVENOR IN VIEW > 2024/25