St Illtyd’s enjoy a memorable day at Hay Festival

On the 23rd May, 110 pupils from St Illtyd’s Catholic High School were lucky enough to attend the Hay Festival’s Secondary Schools Day in Hay-on-Wye.

After an early start, pupils and staff arrived at the Hay Festival in time for our first event, a session with poet and author Matt Goodfellow. Matt read from his poetry collection “Tomorrow We Begin,” exploring the highs and lows of teenage life. Matt also read from his new verse novel “The First Year” which follows 11-year-old Nate through his tumultuous start of secondary school. Matt’s engaging delivery grabbed our pupils from the outset.

We were then taken on a journey to the Ice Age with anthropologist, author, and broadcaster Dr Alice Roberts. Alice revealed the inspiration behind her new children’s novel, “Wolf Mountain,” and the real archaeological discoveries that informed it.

Our day ended with author Christpher Edge who brought the world of escape rooms to life with an interactive and engaging session in which three of our pupils went on stage to help solve the riddles. In Christopher’s new novel, “Escape Room: Game Zero”, anything is possible, and nothing is as it seems.

In between the sessions, our pupils had free time to browse through books in the bookshop, meet authors and get books signed and to explore the festival site. A fantastic day was had by all.

We are extremely grateful to the Arts Council of Wales who funded most of the coach hire costs through their “Go and See” funding.

Luisa May, Community Focused Schools Coordinator

Pupil Feedback

The event was great. It motivated most of us young people to write more and read more. On behalf of all the pupils, we are very grateful for the funding for our visit to this event. We really appreciate it. Mason, Year 9

I now see the world in a different way. I now understand what it takes to create a book. Thank you. Vanessa, Year 9

The day was amazing. It was fun to meet all the authors and I loved their energy. Gabriella, Year 7

The festival had a great atmosphere. Jayden, Year 8

All the authors had a unique viewpoint and story to tell. Drew, Year 8

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The staff were particularly impressed by the students' ability to maintain enthusiasm and focus throughout the demanding examination period, with their final work reflecting months of preparation and genuine artistic growth.

All the students behaved brilliantly and achieved excellent work, but I would particularly like to mention: Alex Ziga, Adah Benedicto and Teigan James who did both exams which amounted to 20 hours of exams in four days.

Well done Year 11- you made us proud.

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