Ever since my first term in year 7, one of the things that caught my eye and I enjoyed thoroughly was studying English. All of the teachers are very enthusiastic whilst talking about becoming a subject prefect, and it took me a while to think about whether I wanted to apply and which subject, but I chose the English department because of the positive atmosphere and the diversity!

Analysis is one of the most important skills in our lives, and is probably one of the most important skills you could learn. It allows you to be able to process things in different ways, and it can help improve your knowledge. It’s very a crucial skill. As a young English prefect, perfecting the skill takes quite a bit of work, confidence and concentration, but it’s still quite fun to do, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll enjoy it. Also, it allows children to open their minds and it would be useful for college and any future jobs, particular ones that require you to be more critical.  

One of my favourite things we’ve learnt in English is a poem called “A Picnic In Jammu” by Zulfikar Ghose. He based the poem about a war between Pakistan and India, and the poet’s experience during this conflict. For example, one of my favourite lines says that “This was a late summer” and this is repeated more than once, reinforcing the idea that it is their memory. Another one is “Till the horizon becomes a rail” as the metaphor here is suggesting that it is almost never ending. 

This year, we have also learnt “Price We Pay For The Sun”, by Grace Nichols. It is a poem based on poverty in Guyana. In class, we analysed and annotated the poem together with Mr Smith. As well as this, we also looked at some pictures of Guyana, that were nice and bright, and compared it to more truthful images of Guyana, which were flooded and clearly at a high level of poverty. We also pulled out key quotes from the poem and looked at the techniques being used. We then looked at how the words or phrases had an impact on the reader. I really enjoyed this topic because it helped my mind think in a way I wouldn’t usually think, and I also think it’s quite amazing that we’re being prepared this early for complex texts, so we don’t have to struggle in the future!

All I can really say is that ever since I came to Westminster Academy, and since my first term, I feel really proud that I got to study at this school, but one thing that I learnt is that if you believe in yourself, you’ll be able to reach your dreams.