Academy News

On the final day of last term, a selected group of students attended a special event at Clifton College to celebrate the Bristol Teen Book Awards. The award, organised by Bristol and South West Children's Librarians, featured five shortlisted books that tackled a range of important themes.

After weeks of reading and discussion, the school’s book club got to cast their vote for their top choice, with Finding Phoebe—a story told from the perspective of a girl with autism—and Desi Girl Speaking, which explores mental health within a cultural community, emerging as their favourites. However, the overall winner, determined by total student votes, was the dystopian novel Electric Life by Rachel Delahaye.

The event featured four of the shortlisted authors, including Finding Phoebe author Gavin Extence, who led an inspirational creative writing workshop for students. A Q&A session with the authors provided fascinating insights into their creative processes and inspirations. Attendees were also excited to learn that a sequel to the humorous futuristic novel Apocalypse Cow is in the works.

Here’s what some of our students had to say about the event: 

‘I loved the Bristol Book Event because the authors were very interactive and happy to talk to everyone. I loved the activities they set out, especially the author workshop, giving us a chance to learn how authors think.’ - Ella 

‘I found the event amazing, all the activities were great, and the authors were great too.’ - Lily 

‘The event was a really lovely experience. Getting to talk to the authors and take part in the activities was really fun, but the winner of the competition was a disappointment!’ - Isla 

We want to say a massive thank you to Clifton College for hosting the incredible event. The experience left students feeling inspired and eager to continue exploring the world of literature.

See details below of this fantastic short list of young adult books!

On Wednesday 12th February, our Sixth Form Performing Arts students enjoyed an evening in Bristol in honour of the upcoming Year 13 musical ‘Heathers’.  

The students started the evening with a production meeting over a delicious meal at Pizza Express, where they discussed the production process and plans for the forthcoming show. Following the very productive meal, they headed to Bristol Hippodrome to watch the amazing performance of ‘Dear Evan Hansen’. 

It was an excellent night for our students, which left them feeling inspired and energised for their own productions. We hope they share insights from the theatre trip with our broader performing arts students, as we have lots to look forward to, including Dance Live!, M Stars Competition, Spring Concert and the Dance Festival.

Our Dance Star this week approaches every Dance lesson with a big smile and endless enthusiasm. 

Scarlett’s positive outlook ensures every task is completed to the best of her ability. She has shown a huge improvement in her dance skills this year. Keep up the good work! 

Lancaster student, Elsie, delivered an outstanding performance at the Somerset Swimming County Championships, held over three weekends in January and February. 

Competing in nine events across freestyle, backstroke, and individual medley, she achieved personal bests in the majority of her races, showcasing her dedication and talent.

Notably, Elsie shaved an impressive 13 seconds off her 400m freestyle time, improving from 6:03.70 to 5:50.60, and cut 8.67 seconds from her 200m freestyle, finishing in 2:42.12. 

Her hard work paid off with three medal wins—silver in the 100m freestyle, and bronze in both the 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke. She also secured a regional qualifying consideration time in the 50m freestyle with an impressive 32.62.

Elsie trains with the performance squad at Backwell Swimming Club, where her commitment to training and competition continues to impress. Her achievements at the championships are a testament to her dedication and potential in the sport. Congratulations, Elsie!

In the final week of term, our sports students were as busy as ever with football, cricket and basketball matches. Here's how they got on: 

Year 7 triumph in their basketball game against St Katherines 

Our Year 7 Basketball team visited St Katherines this week, playing a fantastic basketball game, leaving them with a 34-23 victory.  It has been great to see their progress so far this year and we can’t wait to see what they achieve! 

Year 9 Indoor Cricket Team qualify for the County Cup final

Our Under 13’s indoor cricket team travelled to Backwell School this week for two games as part of the playoff round of the Somerset County Cup.  

The team faced the Blue School in the first game, scoring 69 runs to their 37 runs, which secured us a place in the County Cup final in March. 

We then faced a strong Backwell School, sadly coming up short of that win. However, we still managed to secure second place in the North Somerset bracket of the cup. 

Well done and we look forward to watching you play in the final! 

Year 10’s victory over Wadham School secures them a place in the football quarter-finals

The Year 10 football team faced Wadham School for their third cup fixture. Starting strong, the boys were up 3-0 at the end of the first half, with goals from Archie, George and Gabriel. The victory was sealed in the second half with a second goal from Archie! 

All the boys performed well, qualifying the team for the quarter-finals in Term 4. Player of the match was awarded to Cody for his captain's performance in the midfield. Amazing job!

Year 11 Basketball v St Katherines

In a thrilling end of term Basketball game, Year 11 faced off with St Katherine’s School.  It was a hard fought game, with both teams scoring early on, holding the game at 1-1 until the final 7 seconds where St Katherine’s managed to score the winning basket off a rebound.  

It was a fantastic game to watch and the Academy team should be proud!