Mr S Howes – Head of English

This June, St Bede’s English Department held its now-annual English Transition Day with Prep 6 pupils, many of whom will be joining us in Upper Third come September!

College English staff worked with Mrs Cartmell and Mrs Horsefield to make the day both fun and successful.

Working in small groups, the children were given a ‘Dragons’ Den’ task—to design and promote a product that would help new Upper Third students when they start the secondary phase of their education.

There were some great ideas, such as apps which helped students find classrooms and rewarded them with positive points for being punctual, and the fabulous ‘Ta-daa Tag’, which could be attached to key items of kit so that never again would blazers go missing!

In the afternoon, the presentational pitches were polished before being delivered to our own formidable dragons: Ms O’Gara from Admissions, Mrs Bousted, our Careers Advisor, and Mr Dickson—who knows a thing or two about good delivery of lines!

The whole day was thoroughly enjoyable for all involved, and I think the teachers were struck by the positivity and energy of the pupils: they had so many ideas and got straight down to business on how to come up with a winning product.

My thanks, as ever, to Mrs Cartmell and Mrs Horsefield, who laid the foundations for the day, and to all those involved in making it such a joy.