Stratford Girls’ Grammar School Year 8 Kids’ Lit Quiz Team hit the National Final of the event held at The City of London School on December 4^th. Elodie, Eloise, Heather and Issy have been preparing for this day for the past term. Weekly quiz rounds held under the literary tutelage of English Teacher Mrs Emma Bradley have been more akin to Olympic training than a quiz about books! Having won their regional round of the event held in October, the girls were ready for the bright lights and smoke of London where they faced nineteen other teams from across the country.

A gruelling five rounds gripped the girls in a fast moving, quick thinking competition about anything and everything to do with books. Mrs Bradley commented, ‘The level of questions had significantly raised from the regional round. The questions were longer and ranged across both fiction and non-fiction. Our girls, however, were incredible. They gelled as a team; weren’t fazed by the heat of the moment and successfully buzzed in to answer a good number of questions.’

The national competition proved to be enormously challenging, with the girls finishing a credible 6^th out of the nineteen teams. Following the quiz Elodie added, ‘Right, my heart is now back in my chest!’ Testament indeed to the pulse raising tension throughout the competition.

Mrs Bradley continued, ‘What was so fabulous about the whole day was the buzz about books; the competitive excitement about reading.’

The day was crowned by an address from Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell (author of the best selling How to Train a Dragon series). The girls were able to meet with her personally and chat about writing and reading.

This was a memorable experience for Year 8. Our thanks go to Mrs Bradley for coordinating SGGS's participation and also to Mr Vincent for accompanying the trip.

Pictured are Elodie, Eloise, Heather and Issy with Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell.