Huge congratulations to Zara, winner of the Swindon Youth Festival of Literature Poetry Competition! She received her prize at last night’s Celebration Event cheered on by her family and our Dorcan Academy librarian, Ms Murphy. Zara was awarded a £30 book token, kindly donated by Bert’s Books and was personally congratulated by the Mayor. Her beautiful poem on the theme of Belonging is in our website and displayed in the library. Well done Zara. We are so proud of you!

Last Friday as part of the Swindon Youth Festival of Literature we welcomed performance poet Ash Dickinson to The Dorcan Academy for an energetic and  inspiring session with Year 7. It was wonderful to see students creating their own poems and even performing them on stage. Ash also met Zara, winner of the Inter School Poetry Competition, whose poem is on display in the library. A huge thank you to Ash for sharing his talent and to our brilliant Year 7s for being such an enthusiastic audience!

On Tuesday we had a wonderful evening celebrating the hard work and achievements of our Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award students. From volunteering and new skills to physical challenges and the expeditions our teams have shown real resilience and dedication to gain their Bronze Award. 

A big thank you to the staff and supporters who make DofE possible at The Dorcan Academy and a huge congratulations to our students. We are so proud of you! 

If you are interested in starting your DofE journey, please contact Miss Trigg for more details. 

Huge congratulations to the year 8 netball team who were crowned Swindon Schools netball champions on Wednesday12th November. They faced Lydiard Park Academy in the final emerging as strong winners 22-9. The girls have shown excellent commitment to netball attending club and playing matches with many of the team also committed to an outside club. They are worthy winners having missed out on the winners spot last year by 1 goal.

A huge thank you to Miss Trigg and Miss Brooks for their commitment to running the netball club, fixtures and for their motivation and enthusiasm.

As part of the Swindon Youth Festival of Literature, The Dorcan Academy welcomed author Tom Mitchell on Thursday. Tom spoke to our Year 7 and Year 8 students about his books and the ‘hero’s journey’; a storytelling structure found in many well-known books and films. He explained how this timeless pattern shapes some of our favourite stories from classic adventures to modern blockbusters and encouraged students to think about the heroes in their own lives and writing.

Tom also joined Mr Evans’s tutor group who are currently reading his book How to Save the End of the World during DEAR time. Students were thrilled to hear him read a couple of chapters aloud and share some inside information into his characters. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to meet directly with a published author and be inspired to read and perhaps even write their own stories about saving the world…Thank you Tom!

On Tuesday afternoon, we welcomed pupils from Eldene, Liden, and Covingham Park Primary Schools for an inspiring visit with author Jenny McLachlan, creator of The Land of Roar series and Stink.

The highlight was undoubtedly meeting Jenny’s rapidly growing dragon and there were lots and lots of books sold and signed by Jenny too! It was a wonderfully magic afternoon and a huge thank you to Jenny McLachlan for such an unforgettable event! 📖