School News

Spotlight on English

As part of Book Week’s theme, “A Symphony of Stories,” our Year 7 and 8 students were given a creative challenge: write the beginning of a story in just seven minutes.

Please enjoy reading their amazing work.

Student 1

The waves crashed against the ship's walls. The eerie moonlight illuminated the flooded floorboards of the war ship.

They were all in the meeting room when they heard a melodic female singing voice from out in the distance, the sort of songs described in books. The song, carried by the breeze, echoed throughout the large ship.

As if in a trance, the warriors moved through the ship, following the beautiful sounds. The warriors drifted down the narrow corridors, boots sloshing through the shallow water that pooled across the floorboards.

Student 2

Late at night, in an old, enchanted library, the owner sat, waiting in her favourite armchair. As the books disintegrated into golden dust, and slowly rearranged themselves into people, from the feet upward, the librarian wondered what characters would come alive tonight. The library always chose a few different characters each night, and the librarian never stayed long enough for the characters to come to life. She should probably go soon, for the characters were nearly fully formed, as the librarian locked the door, she said a silent goodnight to the book characters and wished them good luck; they were going to need it.

Student 3

The lights turned off. The door was closed by a chipper and young woman. She closed the blinds and…. Bang! A flash of light radiated from the bookstore. Suddenly a quiet bookstore turned into chatter. The book characters were alive.

Student 4

The soft moonlight shines through a large skylight window, illuminating the dust particles in the air. The librarian, an elderly woman with a kind smile, sits behind her desk next to the main doors. There were many customers today and she was just finishing up when the clock chimed midnight, and a bright flash illuminated the room. The librarian smiled and waited for the light to die down; this was always her favourite part of working here. Not matter how many interesting people she met, or stories she read, nothing could compare to the how the characters came alive.

Student 5

There was a cannon’s bang as the hovercraft came to pick up the body. Then, as I ran to hide, I felt this breeze, but not the normal kind. My heart was pumping as I look around. “Where am I?” I see movement out of the corner of my eye, the fabric glistened. “Come out!” I call, my arrow drawn. A girl creeps out, golden hair falling over her shoulders. There’s a crash to my right then a familiar voice ‘Katniss, you there?” I let out a breath, “Peeta, Peeta is that you?” he crawls out from under a pile of books.