2024 English writing competition

 

English writing competition

Every academic year the English department do a writing competition based upon a different theme. The pupils have the opportunity to take part in their English lessons and try to complete the challenge as independently as possible Mr.  Penfold and Miss Kinder then pick a winner for Ks3 and Ks4. 

The 2024 theme was the 'Paris Olympics' the pupils had to write an extended piece of writing based on the Olympics, it could be around competing, watching the games, the origins of the Olympics or anything else related that they could think of. 

All the pupils worked really hard on their pieces but this years winners are; for Ks3: Marzell
 and for Ks4: Tyler. 

Their stories are being proudly displayed in the bottom corridor for the rest of this year. 

Whole school extended writing

 

Extended Writing

This term pupils have been heard at work creating extended pieces of writing in all subjects!

In Mathematics they have been writing about  how to work out times tables and addition. 

In Art they have been looking at the shapes and what the Earth looks like. 

For PE they have been looking at diet and writing about what changes someone has made how they have effected the person. 

Within cross-curricular around school Science and PSHE pupils writing about their trip to Life-Lab and Mathematics pupils writing about their recent Outdoor Learning trip to SWAC. 

PSHE pupils have also been showing their cross-curricular learning by writing about the importance of physical exercise. 

In Technology they have been exploring different products and designing their own, writing about what products they have taken inspiration from for their deigns. 

For RE they have been looking at creation and writing their own theories and ideas down, as well as retelling the Christian creation story, 

Finally for English KS4 pupils have been writing newspaper articles and letters, whilst KS3have been looking at writing tension and world wars, writing short spooky stories and poems. 

All Pupils have worked very hard on their extended writing pieces and should be very proud of themselves! 

Library Revamp

Welcome to our new and improved Polygon School library where you will find book recommendations from pupils, books from across the curriculum, a dedicated PSHE library and new furnishings and displays chosen by our pupils. 

We hope you enjoy this new space as much as we have designing it to pupils specifications. It was great to see pupils not only helping with design features but also putting up shelves.  

KS3 pupils are really excited to unpack their book deliveries!

 

Extended writing in PSHE

4PR had an excellent PSHE lesson today! 

We had a whole class discussion around the impact of substances like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol on your physical and mental health. We discussed addiction to substances and how they can impact our safety and well-being. The class worked together to come up with ideas for our writing and individually wrote up their work. 

I’m really proud of everyone for their fantastic attitude to learning.  It’s great to see pupils using their skills from English lessons in PSHE! Miss Ifould will be proud! 

Descriptive Writing

 KS4 have been working really hard over the last term developing the use of a range of language techniques and thinking about there senses to produce some lovely pieces of descriptive writing. Both classes have pushed themselves with their vocabulary and working on being independent with their final pieces. 

Super work boys you should all be really proud of yourselves. 

KS4 English - Speech Writing

Over the last two weeks 4NA have been using their work experience as inspiration for their speeches. They have been give the title 'Work experience; A waste of time or a value experience' and been asked to write a speech for their peers giving their view on this statement. Pupils were asked to include their personal experiences and explain to their audience the positive and negatives of their own work experience that they went on just before half term.  

Half way through pupils swapped their work and highlighted positive words and phrases used. They then gave some positive feedback and some ideas for development. 

They then worked hard responding to feedback and finishing off their speeches before delivering them to the class. 

Super effort 4NA well done!

World Book Day 2023

KS4 have been super excited about World Book Day this year and have been working hard completing The Polygon Schools World Book Day Challenge. 

Pupils have one week to complete all the challenges above, each box needs to be signed off by a member of staff. Great start Tyler!

Pupils were given one lesson to make a start on completing all their challenges. All pupils were super enthusiastic and used their time wisely. In class we had Riley telling the whole class jokes, Sean reading the content of a cereal box, Tyler making a book mark, Tobi drawing a scene from his favourite book, Tash completing a famous authors word search, Linkin map reading and Harley completing Lexia. Excellent boys you have made a great start to this challenge.  

Lots of reading also took place on World Book Day. 

Each tutor group also completed the World Book Day Quiz. Tyler decided to tick off one of his challenges and read out all the questions and possible answers to his class. Fantastic reading. 

All tutor groups were given the opportunity to visit Waterstones and trade in their World Book Day voucher for a book of their choice. All behaviour was excellent on the trip. 

KS3 and KS4 English

 

During English this half term both KS3 and KS4 Pupils have been producing work inspired around ‘The Lion King’. KS3 pupils have been exploring Africa and African story telling. The pupils have created fact files around different animals and countries found within Africa, as well as creating ‘wanted’ posters for the characters in the story ‘The Lion King’. Pupils have also had the opportunity to write short stories on how different animals got their unique features, for example how the elephant got his trunk. The year 9 pupils have also been exploring the issues animals face such as global warming, war and the human population.

KS4 pupils have been creating character descriptions of the main characters from ‘the Lion King’. The pupils have also been exploring both the CGI and the animated films comparing and contrasting them as they look at the realism of movie magic. They also looked at how villains are portrayed within films and how all Disney villains look like Jafar from the film ‘Aladdin’.

Lion King - Mayflower Theatre

27 pupils were lucky enough to experience an afternoon at the theatre and were treated to a mesmerising performance of "The Lion King" at The Mayflower Theatre. We enjoyed all the music from the original film as well as immersive puppetry and costumes. Pupils especially enjoyed the gigantic elephant which walked through the audience!

The Lion King has been linked to whole school projects across all subjects this term and it was certainly a spectacle to see off all their hard work!