From Monday 9^th January to Friday 13^th January, Year 9 students were lucky to participate in a Pupil Inset week, in which we all took part in a range of activities based on the topic of Research. These activities allowed us to develop our research and presentation skills, outlining methods we could use not only in our everyday lessons, but also for our GCSE and future studies. First, we attended a range of sessions in which we discussed skills such as note taking, how to undertake effective research or how to conduct an interview amongst others. We were then put into groups and we worked as a team to research and create our own five minute presentations on the topic ‘What does it mean to be British?’. We then performed our presentations to our forms, picked a winning group for each form and then the winning groups presented to the entire year group, as part of an inter-house competition. I was lucky enough to be on the overall winning team, and we were presented with certificates for our achievements. We then went on to perform our presentation to the teachers of Sacred Heart at the staff meeting on Monday 23^rd January. Overall, it was a very enjoyable week and an incredible learning opportunity for us.

Lily O’ Neil – Year 9 student.