Have you ever wondered how accurate a writer needs to be to write historical fiction? Is it okay to compress a historical figure/figures into one character for the sake of an engaging storyline? What about the importance of adhering to the timeline, is it okay to compress the timeline as long as the facts don't change?
These are the questions we put to our visiting historical writer, Colin Murphy, author of 'Boycott', during his visit with our fifth and sixth-year students. They are looking at different ways in which, different authors (Lance Daly's film, 'Black 47', Eavan Boland's poem, 'The Famine Road' and Colin Murphy's novel, 'Boycott') approach the challenging and difficult subject of the famine. We also discussed why there was a lack of texts that addressed this subject, the question of sensibility was undermined by the extensive coverage of the Holocaust, yet the assertion that it might be still a politically sensitive issue got greater credence. This made for some great discussions around the presence of bias in the vision and viewpoint of each text and the impact this had on the audience's viewpoint.
Ms Reynolds
The 1st years completed a zombie lab today where they used their scientific methods and thinking to identify patient zero from the zombie suspects. Using measuring skills, pH, observation skills and much more they successfully identified the source of the outbreak!
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The TY Horticulture class were out in the Autumn sunshine planting Spring bulbs using the chaos planting method. This is when a multitude of different spring bulbs (Hyacinths, Daffodils, Tulips, Crocuses, Narcissi) are mixed together and randomly planted so that we have a mixture of flowers and patterns emerging in the spring. It mimics nature and so is more enticing to pollinators and native insects that need the food in Spring.
Stratford is celebrating Maths Week 2026 (12th - 18th October) with daily activities around the school, at breaktimes and in Maths classes! The tutor-time daily quiz is proving to be extremely competitive as each form group tries to solve it and then run to find Ms Matthews in order to win the box of chocolates!
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