Journey’s End

On what turned out to be a snowy night in mid November 214 year 10 and 11 students and 15 staff climbed onto 5 ‘luxury’ coaches for a long, cold journey to Malvern.

We arrived 1.1/2 hours later delayed by 3 of the 5 coaches having to turn around on a narrow country road due to poor communication between drivers. We took our seats among the other (mainly elderly) members of the audience, and prepared ourselves for a night of drama, high tension and special effects.

After exploring the theatre during the interval, we returned to our seats and braced ourselves for what turned out to be a ‘tear-jerking’ second half. We engrossed ourselves in the emotions and tragic events in this dramatisation of WW1 trench conditions. The quality of the acting moved several people to tears.

Overall, this was an educational yet fun theatre trip and it has given us a good insight into how the emotions of ‘Journey’s End’ are communicated through dramatic techniques.

By Amy Eardly and Olivia Allen


YEAR 9 VISIT TO STRATFORD SEPTEMBER 2006

The whole of Year 9, along with their English and Geography teachers, spent an excellent day in Stratford-Upon Avon.  Their busy schedule involved conducting street surveys in the morning and watching a performance of The Tempest at the RSC in the afternoon.

Here are some extracts from their reviews of the play:

"The beginning of the play was effective, in the way that the ship was focused in the corner of the stage; this really made the audience gripped as to what was going to happen next.  When Ariel emerged from the huge seal-like creature, I was amazed.......The whole play was exciting and suspense built up all the way through."


"I enjoyed the play a lot, mainly because of the superb acting and special effects. I would go and see it countless times. It would never bore me at all."


"I believe that the attention to detail made the play special and unusual....For example in Act One Scene One the light on the ship was whirling round to show the effect of the storm.  I enjoyed this production."