Finding your writing voice

Here at Royal High School Bath, we believe in providing a supportive environment where young writers feel encouraged and have the freedom to express themselves through their writing. Whether seeing their own plays performed on stage, turning an Extended Project Qualification into a story-telling odyssey of Ancient Greek myth, winning local and national writing competitions, or being recognised by the BBC as writers of the future, students at Royal High School Bath are thriving when it comes to finding their voice.

While our staff in the English department are committed to the principle of celebrating and facilitating young students to nurture their writing talents, our Head of Sixth Form is keen to stress that it is the students themselves who deserve all of the credit.

According to Mr Benedict: “There is a small and extraordinary community of Royal High School Bath writers with differing voices and multifarious talents but with a mutual passion for telling stories. In the past few years, between them this community of student writers have produced numerous anthologies – from the student society Write Space to a lockdown-inspired almanac – and won countless awards.

Possibly the best example of the students’ own initiative in helping themselves and others to develop their creative writing is the ‘Write Space Society’, founded by Year 12 student Joely. The Write Space students work collaboratively and collectively: sharing stories, workshopping ideas, swapping sample work and early drafts and – within that space – developing their own unique excellence. There is no better testament to the culture that Joely has established within the society that the students commit with such passion and such willing to take that risk every week. And by nurturing that camaraderie they have produced something wonderful.

The Write Space anthology is a challenging, evocative, and brilliant compendium of writing from our finest storytellers and sentence-makers. It really is a remarkable achievement from Joely and her team of loyal disciples.”

Commenting on the nurturing environment for writers to express themselves at RHSB, Joely says: “Writing has always been my passion, but a hidden one at that, so when I joined RHSB, I knew that it was only right that I gave other girls a place to share their talent with others. Once I joined Sixth Form, I've found that I have so much opportunity in store for my writing within the academic sphere - the Quokka magazine, creative competitions, EPQ project... I'm proud to say that I am finding my voice, through my writing, and I hope many other girls do too.”