This free guide discusses the growing popularity of Bluesky, a public-first microblogging social media platform, and explores what parents and educators can do to ensure children's safety when using the app.

Pictured above is the Year 12 English Language group (and the orange-topped Mr Clay) standing in front of the iconic clock tower of the British Library in Kings Cross, London. We were fortunate to secure a workshop delivered by the Lead Curator of Spoken English at the library, Jonathan Robinson, who provided an informative and engaging presentation about aspects of English-speaking accents and dialects. This included the differing grammatical functions of the filler ‘like’, dialectical variants of the adjective ‘attractive’ (you may or may not wish to ask your daughter/son the meaning of ‘leng’) and the impact of ‘out migration’ upon the English language. After the workshop, the group explored some of the library’s collection of significant texts such as a copy of the Magna Carta dating back to 1215 (the library holds two of the existing four original copies) and a handwritten original copy of John Lennon’s lyrics to The Beatles’, Mr Holmes’ favourite.

Here at The Purbeck School, it’s World Book Day every day with an active library and every tutor group reading for at least 15 minutes each day. But in addition, this week there is a variety of activities and competitions in the library, including a book title emoji treasure hunt, and ‘Batman vs the Bard’, a tricky quiz identifying which quotes are from Batman and which from Shakespeare.

We were delighted to welcome back former student Ben Ingram this morning. Ben gave a very well received presentation about his burgeoning career having established a distinguished photography and filmmaking business. Ben studied Media, English Language and IT at A Level before attending university in Bournemouth.

A number of our sixth form students have been completing a two term leadership qualification with The National Trust. As part of their enrichment sessions (supplemented by volunteering in their own time), fifteen students have been engaged in a wide variety of planning and physical activities, all part of an accredited award which delivers UCAS points for successful participants.