A Trowbridge secondary school is set to stage its first literature festival next week.

John of Gaunt School’s literature festival, The Word, aims to inspire students with a rich programme of activities between Monday and Wednesday, July 12-14.

Headline acts feature champion slam poet, Ash Dickinson, and Carnegie shortlisted author, Chris Vick.

A taste of the fringe activities includes a Book & Bake Takeaway, a staff guess-who in literary costume, and a school-wide creative writing competition centred on the school’s majestic icon – the falcon.

The festival has been organised by English teacher Louise Eagle who said: “With Covid in mind, we’ve aimed for an ambitious array of activities for students to celebrate both the spoken and written word in school.”

Ulrika Bruton, Learning Resources Manager, adds: “With World Book Day being in lock-down, this is a fantastic opportunity for us to now celebrate properly the joy that reading can bring!”

Last month, The John of Gaunt School English Faculty was shortlisted for ‘English Team of the Year’ in the TES Schools Awards.The sponsors are Garston Veterinary Group, We Love Pets Trowbridge and Tymbark Supermarket.

This support will help fund prizes for students and create a festival feel in school.

Paul Skipp, head teacher, said: “Organising The Word in the final term of a challenging year with the pandemic reflects the enthusiasm and dedication of our English team.”

He added: “More widely across the school, we are aspiring for our students to experience a broad range of enrichment activities as the restrictions around Covid are lifting.

"All our staff have been working extremely hard on events such as Sports Day, Diversity Week, field trips and our end-of-term Activities Week.”