Category: English

15 January 21

Edna Judd taught Speech and Drama at the Acton School from 1959-1974, and died in April 1996.  She was a most gifted teacher and her love of literature and drama influenced her many pupils over the years.  She always gave generously of her time and is remembered with great affection.  Since 1999, Habs Girls has…

30 April 20

We are proud to share news that Jamila Salim’s in Upper 5  has had an outstanding result in the national Poetry by Heart competition.  As well as coming in the top ten nationally she has been named the Hertfordshire regional winner. Additionally she received a special commendation for her performances. Jamila’s first poem was an…

6 February 20

On Monday 27 January, six students from the Middle and the Upper School recited their poems for the Poetry by Heart competition. They had to recite poems from before 1914 and afterwards. The judges were impressed with the difficulty of their poems, the understanding they showed when reciting and how well they had learnt them….

15 January 20

The Habs Poet Laureate, Anjali, has composed this poem about our recent Carol Service.  We think it’s rather lovely.   Sewing Haberdashers   Green as a seed, footsteps thread through the city like runners, Habsgirls sprigs like mint flowering in little fragrant clumps, drifting, eddying,   a ripple in backwards motion. Pull the seams tight…

5 November 19

During the summer Anjali in Upper 6 entered the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, an international competition and the biggest poetry competition in the world for under 18s. This year there were over 11,000 entries and, after an awards ceremony at the South Bank, we were delighted to hear that Anjali was placed…

24 September 19

Every year the Senior School – students and teachers – read the same book during the summer break. This year, the novel chosen was ‘Where the World Ends’ by Geraldine McCaughrean. The book is based on a true story set in St Kilda.  “Every summer Quill and his friends are put ashore on a remote…

29 July 19

During the summer term we hosted Vanessa Kisuule as our writer in residence.  Avital in Lower 5 writes about what it meant to her. We were so lucky to have Vanessa Kisuule come into school as our writer in residence.  She lead workshops, gave an assembly and held individual sessions with us. In class we…

11 July 19

A day intended for A-level study started with a surreal flashback to childhood with Michael Rosen, author of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. Instead of bears, we were introduced to D. H Lawrence’s Man and Bat, in discussion of which he took us through the four main questions a student should ask themselves when…

25 April 19

Congratulations to Anjali in Lower 6 for being awarded Highly Commended at the Christopher Tower Poetry Competition Final last night. Here’s her entry: the lost sailor’s ecstatic drowning   silence collects on my skin in flakes. in the background,      her soporific humming. the ticker-timer of my heartbeat is frantic;    my fingernails are purple.   we…

27 November 18

As a conclusion to studying Macbeth for our GCSE English literature course, U5 visited the Barbican to watch the Royal Shakespeare Company’s performance of Macbeth. This modern adaptation proved to be both gripping and entertaining. The production opened with a dramatic dialogue from the three witches, played by young girls who added mystery and suspense…