At the end of a very gloomy, wet and grey week that started with “Blue Monday” I cannot express how grateful I was to be present for the completely uplifting 2026 “Story Slam” event yesterday. It was a remarkable demonstration of the creative talent across our school, and it brought joy and positivity to everyone lucky enough to witness it.
Children across the prep school have been writing the most amazing stories with a truly astonishing range of subjects, making the selection for the final 12 incredibly difficult. The three finalists from years 3,4,5 and 6 took to the podium to “perform” their stories, this was so much more than simply having them read to us. They completely captivated the audience with confident, clear and mature performances that made us laugh, moved us and left us in total awe of their astonishing talents.
We heard about the adventures of carrot armies, cave dwelling wolves, lawn mower race cars, magic coats, snow leopards, cheeky stars and the moon, Greek Gods, future worlds, battling vegetables, homework robots, eventful dreams and near-death experiences! The authors took us on a roller coaster of emotions and left the audience wanting more, with numerous requests for the “sequel” or even the “movie version”.
The imagination and creativity were brought to life with incredible vocabulary, witty and thoughtful sentences and a wonderful demonstration of English mastery. We also witnessed empathy, kindness and humanity with thought provoking and heartfelt narratives. The whole competition was a tribute to the amazing work of teachers across our school who skillfully guide and inspire our children from the foundational stages of phonics and spellings to sophisticated writing and storytelling.
Mrs Dziedziela was rightly proud of the achievements of the children, and she will share their work with you all shortly. For me, it was a wonderful celebration of creativity and confidence and another demonstration of our learner powers coming to life. The children showed us once again just how amazingly talented they are, a very proud moment.
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.
Mr C
