Year 9 student Rawen achieved a brilliant 1st place finish in the Excellence in English Project in Stoke. The project is an initiative to raise standards in English and involves every secondary school in the city.

Rawen’s task was to write an analysis on a piece of text, focussing on a Hero or Villain of their choice. The Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent student wrote an analytical essay on Severus Snape from Harry Potter.

In his essay, Rawen had to write about the effects of the author’s methods and then justify why Severus Snape was a hero.

Rawen used a great depth of understanding to explore the character of Snape, and whether or not he was an archetypal stereotype of a hero, looking beyond appearance and considering actions and motivations. The final essay produced was a strong piece of work that saw him win 1st prize in the competition.

As well as winning £100 worth of Amazon vouchers, Rawen also earned Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent a visit from Matt Windle, Poet Laureate.

Mrs. Davies, Assistant Headteacher at Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent said: “Rawen’s competition entry explored one of his favourite characters in great detail. He spent a lot of his own time working on the essay and it paid off! We are incredibly proud of him.”

Well done Rawen, a fantastic achievement.