Have you ever considered what life will be like in 300 years’ time? What truly makes a horrific transformation? How can fairy tales be adapted to the big screen? These are the questions that the English department posed to Key Stage 3 students in June for its annual Creative Writing Week focusing on ‘Metamorphosis’.

In Year 7, students looked at literary depictions of the future, including H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, as well as Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One. Each of these visions of the future were used as stimuli for students’ own creative writing.

Exploration of the horror genre was the key focus for students in Year 8. Throughout the week, they read about Dr Jekyll’s descent into the depraved Mr Hyde; witnessed the terrifying presence of Dracula and confronted the aliens of War of the Worlds. This study of the grotesque ultimately inspired students’ own descriptions of horrific transformations.

Finally, Year 9 were reimagining classic fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood as modern feature films, as well as using the film script form. 

It was a real pleasure to see students’ love of reading and creativity flourish throughout Creative Writing Week. The English department wishes to thank students for their wonderful contributions, as well as the Friends of William Farr School for their support.