English: The Rationale Behind the Subject

CJM, present Housemaster of Wood and previous Head of English.

Bookitch

‘Bookitch’ is a full time competition designed to encourage boys to read as regularly as possible; it operates as part of the House system and is run by Mr Fletcher - inspired by Harry Potter et al. Boys fill in a report about any book they have read, and points are awarded. The ultimate accolade is the Golden Snitch.

Book Fairs

Book Fairs are also organised with visiting authors and take place in the library or the Centenary Hall dependent on their size. 

Regular Reading

As well as encouraging purely recreational reading, there are fixed times during ‘Rest’ after lunch and, for boarders, before ‘Lights out’ in the evenings. You would be amazed how many books some boys can read!

Declamations

The Annual Declamations competition is held every year at the beginning of the Spring Term.  Every boy chooses and learns by heart his piece before performing it in class. Those selected will progress to a semi-final in the Centenary Hall when they will perform before a panel of staff, including the Headmaster. The best of these will be chosen for the final when they will perform before the whole school. and parents, with a guest adjudicator, generally from a Senior School. The Junior School boys are not involved in this, but hold a similar competition in the Summer Term with a different guest adjudicator.

Workshops

There is no regular evening workshop, but staff are generally available to give extra help, and Mr Masterman is usually available in his classroom on most evenings.  Mr Fletcher is also available in the evenings in the build-up to Common Entrance.

School plays

A main school play is produced at some point during the year, usually in the Autumn Term.  Various staff members have been in charge of this, but in recent years Mr Ilett has been in charge of Drama.  Mr Lloyd (Head of Geography), Mr Wild (Director of Music and Performing Arts), Mr Williams (Head of Art) and Mr Fletcher (Head of English) have also been involved in productions of and helping with school plays. They are real collaborative events. As well as acting, boys will also help with special effects and the multitude of essential activities which go on behind the scenes in any successful play.

Author visits

Author Visits are also organised, with recent authors including Jonathan Stroud, Caroline Lawrence and Alan Gibbons.

Argosy Club

The Argosy Club is for all boys in their final year: they listen to and ask questions of an invited specialist speaker. The meetings take place two or three times during each winter term.

The Headmaster’s Essay Society

The Headmaster’s Essay Society is for the boys of Alpha who listen to and often participate in a talk, usually given by a specialist from a Public School; they too ask and answer questions and will often be asked also to write an essay on the matter discussed.

Book Week

The Autumn Term 2006 saw the introduction of Book Week by SFA. The theme of Book Week was incorporated into the teaching throughout the school during the week.  It must be emphasised that normal routine was not disrupted.