THE spoken and written word was celebrated during a festival of workshops and special events.

The King’s School, Worcester, held Words Alive from Thursday, January 30 to Thursday, February 6 to demonstrate the vibrancy of the school’s cultural life through a diverse programme of events designed to encourage a love of the spoken and written word.

It was made available to the whole school community, parents, visitors and other local schools.

Pupils worked with visiting professionals including author Joe Craig, the deputy chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary Philip Durkin, Birmingham's young poet laureate Matt Windle, poet Charles Bennett and actor Nick O’Brien.

The eclectic evening and weekend programme included a performance by the nationally-acclaimed poet, Wendy Cope, a family workshop with award-winning illustrator and author Petr Horacek and a powerful performance of Woyzeck set in the aftermath of the First World War, presented by Scene Productions.

A large audience enjoyed the festival finale when poet-in-residence Wendy Cope was joined by current and former pupils who presented and performed a memorable evening of music, dance, film and drama.