St Paul’s Way in collaboration with ‘First Story’ is running another programme for young writers in 2022-2023. Last Year an Anthology of student poems was produced and will be placed in the British Library.
Sarah (now in 11W) took part in the First Story writing programme last year. Sarah attended a writing retreat residential trip during the summer holiday. This fully funded trip offers students the opportunity to take part in daily writing workshops whilst staying in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside. As a First Story student, Sarah was eligible to apply for this opportunity and was selected by the charity due to her passionate application. You can read Sarah’s account of her trip:
"Hi! I’m Sarah, I’m in year 11 currently and was lucky enough to go on the Arvon trip funded by First Story this last summer holiday. The trip was in West Yorkshire: this meant having to sit hours in a train plus a coach with people I never met, many from London and many from other cities across the UK. Although the thought of being close to people you’ve never met before sounds something to be apprehensive about, the thrill of getting to be yourself without any judgement from people who are in the same shoes as yours is so exciting and inspiring. On the residential we took part in many activities; it wasn’t all writing and serious work. The writers in residence took us on walks to the village, Hebden Bridge (which has amazing views), and we were also able to venture anywhere on the grounds during our free time during the afternoon. We had parties and sleepovers almost every night – I will never forget our last day where we all had a huge party in the ‘barn’, blasting silly songs like Let It Go and dancing to Lizzo, and the last sleepover we had with all us students with snacks and gossip! This goes to show that while producing amazing work for a new anthology, attending tutoring sessions, and exceptionally advancing in our writing skills, you are also able to have fun and enjoy being with your new friends. However, most importantly, it was a change in scenery that, personally, I felt I really needed to immensely enhance my writing and nurture my confidence – academically my grades have improved by a significant amount, and the people I have to thank are those who allowed me to partake in this breath-taking opportunity."
We are pleased to announce that the First Story programme will be running again this academic year for the new cohort of Year 10 students, and we hope that one of our students will be able to attend the residential trip again next Summer.
