"Literature", Ezra Pound said, is "News that stays news".

This year we have been as busy as ever promoting the study of English Literature throughout the Senior School. Recommended reading lists have been drawn up for each year group and there has been close liaison with Natalia Ciordia, our conscientious School Librarian, to ensure that these books rapidly become available to pupils. We are also working on updating our Library data base in order to provide pupils with more detailed information and book reviews by their peers. Each Year 10 and 11 pupil is given the opportunity to study both English Literature and Language at IGCSE. We believe it is vital that the pupils have this broad foundation in order to proceed with confidence to Advanced Level in this subject.

As I mentioned in last year's report, "we intend to increase the number of theatre trips next year". We have taken 200 pupils to see the musical adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" which has been favourably compared to shows in The West End. Year 10, and the pupils studying Drama, have see Noel Coward's "Star Quality". We have also taken 150 pupils to see "Twelfth Night" at the St Louis University Theatre in Madrid, which provided an excellent introduction to their study of Shakespeare this year. It is equally gratifying to see how thriving our own School Drama has been this year. Mrs McGough and Ana García have helped with make-up and costumes, Mr Sowden and Mr Bennet have produced and directed "Unman Wittering and Zigo" and the two Latin Plays "Odysseus Returns" and "Jason and the Argonauts" and "Medea" respectively. It is always a pleasure to work with such a hard-working and uncomplaining group of professionals.

The launching of "The Runnymede Times" has been an exciting innovation of the English Department. As editor I have been fortunate in marshalling the varied skills of a wide range of pupils. The newspaper has brought to light and provided a platform for talented pupils to display and record some of the variety of activities and work produced during the school year, that would often otherwise go by unnoticed and unsung. Our first edition has included reviews of plays and trips to exhibitions, creative writing in English and Spanish and a variety of interviews. Pupils have been at the centre of this written work and also taken photographs and provided their own Art work for illustrations. In the production of the newspaper itself, pupils have begun to work with In Design and Photoshop as well as acquiring editing and scanning skills. The newspaper has helped promote further the use of English and developed a sense of teamwork. (As I point out in the editorial, TEAM stands for Together Each Achieves More). It also offers valuable experience for careers in Media and the Arts

This report would be incomplete without mentioning the special contribution that Mrs Carol Naylor has made in her time at Runnymede. Her enthusiasm and wide experience, both as a teacher and Welsh Board examiner, have undoubtedly contributed to the enjoyment of her classes and the examination success of many of her pupils. I would like to thank her for the many extra revision lessons she offered to pupils in her free time and the useful revision notes and other materials that she made available to all on the school intranet. We wish her every happiness in her new venture as a writer.