Welcome to 2011 and the best year of your school life!

Well, sort of. Should be a good summer anyway, once you get the pesky exams out of the way...

Points I'd like to make:

1) Well done on your mock performance, which was generally very encouraging I thought! The most important thing is that you understand which areas were your most successful and which were weak, and that you know what you need to do to sort this out.

2) I hope you're ready to work! Now that mocks are out of the way, we really need to kick on with the Literature element, studying the novel and the poetry in detail, before returning to some Language revision nearer to the exam. THIS LINK will take you to a document showing you exactly what we'll be studying in class, and also giving you your homework tasks. I'll give it you in class also. Can I also say, though, that we have to be able to work in a way which doesn't put too much pressure and stress on ourselves (I'm counting myself in this as well as you!)... part of being a successful student is recognising that some stress is OK, but being able to manage time, work sensibly, take breaks, remember to take opportunities to switch off and enjoy yourselves, and keep things in perspective!

3) You are going to be writing a lot. That's writing in class, and writing at home. This is not because I am an evil masochist who enjoys seeing people suffer, but because it is simply the most effective, guaranteed way to ensure that you succeed. So make sure you approach this with a positive attitude, get into a habit of writing at a particular time in the week, and put in the hard work you need to get the rewards.

Right, see you all soon, hope you had a lovely Xmas and all that,

Mr Boulter

ps- an amazing, yet to be decided on prize to whoever correctly identifies the bird!