During the first half of the spring term, David Hall, an actor/writer/poet, came into school for a day to work with 60 year 10 students. He began the day by reading his own poetry before encouraging them to write some for themselves.

This then led to students writing song lyrics for an album, with each song telling a section of a story about a teenage boy whose life was taking a turn for the worse. The readings/performances of the final songs at the end of the day were enjoyed by both staff and students.

The English department also launched its first meeting of the Film Club. The theme was "there's life in the old dog yet" and students enjoyed watching The World's Fastest Indian. This film documents the true story of Bert Monroe, a New Zealand man who dreamed of breaking the land speed record on his 1920 Indian Motorcycle. Later films will include Calendar Girls.

All students are welcome at Film Club - ask Mrs Grantham for details.

In March, year nine enjoyed a visit from the Bitesize Theatre Company who performed some scenes from Much Ado About Nothing. This was an interactive performance and several students participated alongside the actors. Students also gained a sense of what it would have been like to watch one of Shakespeare's plays at the Globe when Shakespeare was alive: a rather smelly and dirty experience. The most able pupils also attended a workshop with the theatre company. One group of students are studying Richard III and they spent some time watching a video performance.

Year 9 students also completed book jacket designs for a competition jointly run by the art, English and library learning areas. Students had to think up a plot for a book, then design a book jacket, complete with a relevant and attention grabbing blurb. Mrs Jones, Mrs Skelding and Mrs Taylor had the difficult task of trying to select an overall winner from the hundreds of entries. Eventually, they agreed that Katharine Harris (9W1) had produced a super winning design that combined many of her learning experiences in Art, English and ICT. Amy Holland, who came second, showed imagination and use of air-brushing techniques. Both girls won a book token. A similar event is planned to coincide with Reading Week in 2008.

Earlier this year, Shuttle/Times & News editor, Clive Joyce, visited Wolverley to talk to English language and ICT students in Year 13. Mr Joyce explained to them the requirements of his job and talked about the writing process.

The English department is excited about having been selected as the second specialist subject to support Wolverley's successful bid for specialist Music College status. This means that we will have extra support in developing literacy and the numerous other elements that come into the wide field of English. Already, we are putting in place plans for a year 11 trip to a GCSE Poetry Conference in Birmingham, where many of the poets studied for English and literature will be hosting workshops on their poems, and two chief examiners from the English exam board will advice students on their GCSEs. The conference is being held in November and numbers are limited, so year 11 students should see Mrs Taylor to book their place.

The department is also organising a "Poetry Slam" day in the spring term - an interactive event which makes poems come alive for the students and is designed to help with their study of poetry for both KS3 and KS4. Look out for posters around the school.