15 Feb 2008 - Creative Writing

 

Creative Writing Course

4th - 9th February 2008

 

Totleigh Barton, Devon

 

Castle High School joined St Patrick’s College for the fourth time as we travelled to England for an Arvon Foundation’s Creative Writing Course. Castle High School has been on the course five times before; the first course 11 pupils and one teacher from CHS went on their own to Lumb Bank in Yorkshire. The organisers were so impressed with our pupils that we have been invited back with St Patrick’s College. This year we will go to another of Arvon’s centres in Devon.

 

On Monday 4th February 2008 eight pupils from each school flew to Totleigh Barton for six days. The house they stayed in was a thatched cottage situated in the midst of the beautiful Devon countryside with the nearest village a mere two miles away.

 

 

 Two established writers took the course: Christopher Walking and Clare Pollard. They gave the students expert tuition on how to produce good pieces of writing, either poetry or prose. The best pieces may be used as GCSE coursework. The next thing on the agenda is the anthology which will be a reminder of the success of the week.

 

While the main purpose of the course was to write, the students developed their life skills: how to live together in harmony as a community, how to cook and clear up for themselves and how to prepare and serve an evening meal for 22 people using fresh produce from the local area. They learnt the art of conversation, as there were no televisions or DVD players or the Internet, just computers to produce their pieces of writing.

 

 

Castle High School was the first Northern Ireland school to be invited to attend an Arvon course and St Patrick’s College is the second. We are delighted taht we had fifth successful course where our students continued to be ambassadors for Northern Ireland.