It is challenging to put into words a true picture of the en
ergy and fun this event created across the whole school family.
Students had already sent us some wonderful entries for the ‘Get Caught Reading’ photography competition over half-term, even from as far away as the Dolomites! Now it was their opportunity to dress up in the time-honoured fashion, and many grabbed it with both hands. It was great to see the older students participating as well as the younger ones – in the photographs you can see our Year 11 ‘Mean Girls’ (although in reality they are quite the opposite), and our Year 12s, including Morgan as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, and Amy as Nancy Drew. Elsewhere, Adi (Year 7) didn’t just bring his deerstalker in, but his graphic novel version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, too, leading to an impromptu Sherlock Holmes session in English.
At lunchtime, Mr Guerrero dared students to visit the library where he dimmed the lights and spooked the students with a selection of readings: Alvin Schwarz for the younger end of the school (although there’s nothing baby-ish about his short story, ‘Harold’), followed by a dip into ‘The Bad Death of Edward Delacroix’, as retold by Stephen King in The Green Mile, for the older students.
It was an absolute delight to have the library so full – standing room only – with students from all year groups, and you could hear a pin drop as the atmosphere and the tension built. We will certainly run this activity again!
Another highlight was the ‘Staff Shelfie’ competition. Students were surprisingly enthusiastic and devious in trying to decipher clues and match the anonymous bookshelf photographs to their owners. It was interesting to see how well the students knew their teachers – a real sign of the great working relationships we foster at St Gerards.
Thank you to all who participated – Mrs Tough and Mr Guerrero are already making devious plans for next year’s event!
Categories: Events Senior School