We are hugely proud of one of our former Year 11 students, who wrote an impressive and engaging opening to a novel during her time here at Balshaw’s. Her work is a fantastic example of the creativity and talent we strive to nurture in our students.

We have been sharing this piece with current students during tutor time as a source of inspiration, encouraging them to see what can be achieved through imagination, dedication, and a love of writing.

Please find a snippet of her work below:

"People never really liked Antarctica, or so Bo was told. Apparently, there was a fine, powdered ice that coated everything, called snow. Bo had become obsessed with the notion. I was supposedly as cold as the deepest parts of the Mariana Trench although no-one in Atlantis knew for sure. It was because of such frosty weather, and lack of appeal to tourists, why a research lab was built up there. There were many reports about the sort of research that went on there, but whatever it was, it would have been better for humanity if it had been left alone. An explosion in one of the rooms which wasn’t contained fast enough set off a chain reaction that spelled disaster for everyone on earth. The sparks were sent flying so fast and so far, that they set the methane, still rippling out of the ice, alight. There was no-one left there to contain the blaze and thus began what was quite frankly the world’s worst game of dominoes. The fire spread, melting the snow and cracking the ice, causing more gases to escape. These then joined in the rampage, setting off new explosions which began expanding around the globe. The accident caused the destruction of the world; well, the part that was on the surface that is. 

The citizens of Atlantis, since that is what they officially now were, managed to escape the carnage by hiding, safely beneath the waves. Bo’s great- great grandfather was an engineer, and he and his son, only six at the time, were two of the last few to make the trip down into the Deep.  Now, they don’t bother going up to the surface anymore; there’s nothing left for them up there now, except fire and toxic gas, and why would you want to go up into nothing when there’s everything you could ever need down here?"