Highbury Grove School

“It all came together. By the end of the first session I was pleased, and so was Alex Kelly, their teacher. The young writers were so good at expressing their innermost thoughts and feelings. I was in no doubt that we would produce some good work, or at the very least have fun. I didn’t even have to use the money I’d brought to bribe them.”

Courttia Newland, First Story Writer-in-Residence at Highbury Grove School

When I realised what I had done, the blow I felt in my stomach was indescribable and the realisation would for ever more be a crimson Post-It Note in my head. The sweet caramelised smell lingered on my clothes for a few days, and like a child longing for their favourite sweet, I longed for the scent first-hand. Yet all that I could smell was the stench of betrayal and brokenness. I ached. I wanted to forget. I wanted to be forgiven yet no tears seeped from my eyes. But I couldn’t go back. What was done was written in stone.

An extract from “Blackness at Heart” by Geraldine, a student at Highbury Grove School

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