Let Roald Dahl take you into Year 7 English at St Cyres! I guess you’ve heard of Roald Dahl?

Maybe you’ve been to Roald Dahls Plass in Cardiff Bay?

Perhaps you’ve even read some of his books…

…or learnt about him in your primary school. If you have then brilliant, and if you haven’t then there’s nothing to worry about. We thought he’d be the perfect person to help you make the move into St Cyres and life at secondary school.

So first up, here’s what Roald Dahl says about witches. Don’t worry, you won’t find any of them at St Cyres! If you want to hear it being read aloud, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIsJjTqELiI A Note about Witches In fairy-tales, witches always wear silly black hats and black cloaks, and they ride on broomsticks. But this is not a fairy-tale. This is about REAL WITCHES. The most important thing you should know about REAL WITCHES is this. Listen very carefully. Never forget what is coming next. REAL WITCHES dress in ordinary clothes and look very much like ordinary women. They live in ordinary houses and they work in ORDINARY JOBS. That is why they are so hard to catch. A REAL WITCH hates children with a red-hot sizzling hatred that is more sizzling and red-hot than any hatred you could possibly imagine. A REAL WITCH spends all her time plotting to get rid of the children in her particular territory. Her passion is to do away with them, one by one. It is all she thinks about the whole day long. Even if she is working as a cashier in a supermarket or typing letters for a businessman or driving round in a fancy car (and she could be doing any of these things), her mind will always be plotting and scheming and churning and burning and whiz-zing and phizzing with murderous bloodthirsty thoughts.

So you won’t find any witches, but you will find some of these… A Note about secondary school teachers In old fashioned books and films, secondary school teachers always wear tweed jackets with patches on the elbows. and they drink lots of coffee. But this is not an old fashioned book. This is about REAL SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. The most important thing you should know about REAL SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS is this. Listen very carefully. Never forget what is coming next. REAL SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS dress in ordinary clothes and look very much like ordinary people. They live in ordinary houses and they work in ORDINARY CLASSROOMS. That is why they are so hard to spot. A REAL SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER actually quite likes children and really enjoys trying to help them to understand new subjects and information. A REAL SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER spends all their time planning how to get the children to succeed in their particular subject. Their passion is to help students to read, write, do sums, work things out and generally to feel confident in showing what they learnt in primary school.

Now have a go at telling us about REAL YEAR 6 STUDENTS. What is the most important thing we need to know about you? In cartoons and TV programmes, Year 6 students always _____________

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But this isn’t a cartoon or a TV programme. This is about REAL YEAR 6 STUDENTS. The most important thing you should know about REAL YEAR 6 STUDENTS is this. Listen very carefully. Never forget what is coming next. ________________________________________________________________

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Happily, you won’t find any witches. Sadly, you might not meet any geniuses quite like Matilda either.

By the time she was three, Matilda had taught herself to read by studying newspapers and magazines that lay around the house. At the age of four, she could read fast and well and she naturally began hankering after books. The only book in the whole of this enlightened household was something called Easy Cooking belonging to her mother, and when she had read this from cover to cover and had learnt all the recipes by heart, she decided she wanted something more interesting.

‘Daddy,’ she said, ‘do you think you could buy me a book?’

‘A book?’ he said. ‘What d’you want a flaming book for?’

‘To read, Daddy.’

‘What’s wrong with the telly, for heaven’s sake? We’ve got a lovely telly with a twelve-inch screen and now you come asking for a book! You’re getting spoiled, my girl!’

Tell us three books that you would recommend to your class mates and why. Draw the front and back covers of your favourite book here: 1. _______________________________ by _________________________

I would recommend this book the most because…_____________ ___________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________ by _________________________ would be my next recommendation because…________________ ___________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________ by _________________________ would be my third choice because…_________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

Finally, here’s a description of Mr Twit. Mr Twit was one of these very hairy-faced men. The whole of his face except for his forehead, his eyes and his nose was covered with thick hair. The stuff even sprouted in revolting tufts out of his nostrils and ear-holes. Mr Twit felt that this hairiness made him look terrifically wise and grand. But in truth he was neither of these things. Mr Twit was a twit. He was born a twit. And now at the age of sixty, he was a bigger twit than ever. The hair on Mr Twit’s face didn’t grow smooth and matted as it does on most hairy-faced men. It grew in spikes that stuck out straight like the bristles of a nailbrush. And how often did Mr Twit wash this bristly nailbrushy face of his? The answer is NEVER, not even on Sundays. He hadn’t washed it for years.

Thankfully we don’t have any twits at St Cyres. But we do have several members of the De Lovely family at our school. They are the exact opposites of the Twits.

Mrs De Lovely is certainly one of the loveliest women you could ever meet. Her face is beautifully symmetrical and shines with cleanliness.

Either complete your description of Mrs De Lovely or make up a description for Mr De Lovely. Remember they are the complete opposites of Mr and Mrs Twit. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Try to use the following vocabulary in your writing: