Hi - my name's Mr. Anderson and I'd like to welcome you to 8CH's new English blog. Welcome.

Essentially, this blog will be a living document detailing the work 8CH will be doing over the next half-term in English - and maybe beyond.

Until Easter we will be studying non-fiction and travel writing in particular. It seemed sensible, therefore, to look at the text where most such writing resides in the 21st Century: blogs. If you don't believe us, check out www.travelblog.org, http://blogs.bootsnall.com or www.travelpod.com. There are thousands more travel blogs out there, too - if you find any other interesting ones, feel free to let us know.

Once it became clear we were going to examine blogs, creating one ourselves was too good an opportunity to miss. This way we can become fully familiar with such a modern form of communication, give our work a wider audience than normal, and hopefully have a bit of fun too. Of course, we'll be looking at forms of travel writing other than blogs: the diaries of Captain Scott; postcards home from exotic locations; even travelogues for recently landed Martians! But whatever it is, it will all be documented on here over the next six weeks - photos, thoughts, poems... who knows?

Which is where you come in. One of the most significant differences between a blog and most other kinds of texts is the interactivity - you can be as much of an author as us. So tell us your thoughts. Tell us your ideas. Tell us about your favourite holiday destination. Tell us your reaction to the work we have done. We would welcome your input - if you feel like it. If you don't, just take some time to look around and enjoy our work.

Thank you.