The Siobhan Dowd Trust

thanks to askes

kate — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:39:00 +0000

Haberdasher’s Aske’s School for Girls in Enfield held a fundraising booksale on World Book Day in support of The Siobhan Dowd Trust -- Thanks very much to all involved! We promise to put the funds to good use…

CARNEGIE / GREENAWAY SHORTLISTS

kate — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:09:49 +0000

A Monster Calls has pulled off a spectacular double being shortlisted for BOTH of the UK’s most prestigious Childrens’ book prizes -- the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal. Congratulations to Patrick Ness and Jim Kay! Patrick won the Carnegie last year with Monsters of Men, and the story is based on an idea by Siobhan who won the Carnegie for Bog Child in 2009.

The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children. It was established by in 1936, in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), a self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA. He set up more than 2800 libraries across the English speaking world and, by the time of his death, over half the library authorities in Great Britain had Carnegie libraries. The medal is awarded by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Judges said A Monster Calls is “An exquisite piece of writing of great depth which has huge impact upon the reader, guiding them through some difficult emotional lessons. Well plotted and lyrically written with not an unconsidered word, it also handles the relationships between the central characters brilliantly.”

The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in 1955, and is awarded annually for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. It is named after the nineteenth century artist known for her fine children’s illustrations and designs. Like the Carnegie, it is awarded by CILIP, who said of Jim Kay’s illustrations: “Breathtaking, a perfect marriage of text and picture, in which the illustrations capture meaning and emotion completely. There are echoes of Charles Keeping in Kay’s atmospheric, energetic inky illustrations. The depiction of light and shade is awe-inspiring and the illustrations extend the impact of the story.”

The winner of both prizes will be announced at a ceremony at the Barbican Centre on the 14th of June. The winning prizes include £500 worth of books to be donated to the Library of each winner’s choice.

USE GRAPHIC NOVELS

kate — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:15:56 +0000

Lynne Clark at South Bromsgrove High School says: ”This year I decided to put a toe into the waters of the Graphic Novel and Manga (many thanks to the SLA Midlands Branch and Peters booksellers) and subsequently we are taking part in the Stan Lee Excelsior Award which has been masterminded by Paul Register, the Learning Resource Centre Manager at Ecclesfield School in Sheffield. The kids love reading Graphic Novels – it’s really accessible to all students and the easy voting system appeals. I’m really surprised at the response from the students, many progressing from the ‘grunt’ stage to interesting and engaging conversation. “

CHANGING DISPLAYS

kate — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:33:48 +0000

Wroughton Primary School emphasise the importance of displays: “To really immerse our children in books, we decided to turn the main corridor in our school into the book setting! Every term we choose a focus book and the whole staff set about turning the corridor into that book. So far this year we’ve had a jungle, a winter wonderland and a forest at night time. We make sure that there’s lots to see, touch and listen to. This means that the children can really experience the setting of the book and imagine what it’s like to be there.”

“TAKE A RISK”

kate — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:24:13 +0000

At The Ravensbourne School, Librarians run a scheme called “Take a Risk” where you borrow a book from the Library wrapped up in brown paper and string.

GUESS WHO’S READING?

kate — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:22:06 +0000

Another idea from Eileen Roberts at The Ravensbourne school: ‘Guess Who’s Reading’ (photographs of people from our school community reading and you have to guess who they are)… We asked the Head Teacher recently what he was reading and he said ‘The Wolf Report’, sounded really exciting but turns out it was a review of vocational education!”

READING COVERS EVERYTHING

kate — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:16:44 +0000

Dean Fox works at Cornwallis Academy and I had to include part of his impassioned email: “As a school we value reading, not simply because it improves literacy and educational attainment, but because of the escapism, fun, excitement, fear and different worlds a good book can catapult you into. Reading is about love, death, hope, survival, loss and every other possible subject you can imagine. Reading makes life colourful, intriguing and stimulating. Put simply: reading covers everything.”

BOOKS AT BEDTIME

kate — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:11:12 +0000

Stacey Coysh teaches at St Andrews CE Primary: “We have a books at bedtime each year where we invite all the children back to school in the evening (between 6pm-7pm) wearing their pyjamas and with their favourite teddy. The teachers are in their classrooms (also dressed in jim-jams) where they are ready to read the children a variety of stories in a cosy classroom with cushions, lamps etc. They children have a choice of which class/teacher to go to (a list of stories and teachers and rooms are displayed in the hall first for the children and parents to see) We have 3x 10 min sessions -so 3 stories before we all gather for hot chocolate and biscuits whilst our headteacher reads us all a story before we go home.”

USE PROPS, LIGHTING & A STORY CHAIR

kate — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:05:18 +0000

Angela Wilkinson is the Librarian at Harper Green Secondary School: “At regular intervals throughout the school year I create a relaxing story-telling area in the library with comfy seating, fairy lights and a high-backed chair decked with colourful throws and cushions which becomes the “Story Chair”. Whoever volunteers to sit in the story chair is required to tell a story or read an extract from their favourite book to the assembled audience. Both pupils and staff volunteer to share their favourite pieces of literature. Everyone gets involved from catering staff to senior management. Often we tie the event in with other activities and celebrations such as Readathon or World Book Day. Children of all ages love being read to particularly if you inject a sense of occasion into the proceedings with a few props and subdued lighting. Whether it be Year 7 listening to “The Hobbit” or Year 11 enjoying extracts from their GCSE text “Of Mice & Men”, it brings the books to life and also provides an opportunity to introduce pupils to literature they may not have encountered before. It can also revive interest in the work of writers that are no longer as popular as they used to be. Our recent story sessions resulted in a resurgence of interest in the books of Paul Jennings and introduced pupils to Sue Townsend’s wonderful creation -- Adrian Mole. In all three schools that I have worked in I have always found the Story Chair to be a sure fire hit and best of all it costs NOWT!

PASSIONATE LIBRARIANS

kate — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:57:53 +0000

Valerie Dewhurst’s enthusiasm shines through in a long detailed email outlining her initiatives and ends: “I feel having a love of books/reading is a must if you are to work with children in a library. You need that passion to shine through, you want children to see just how much reading means to you, and hopefully one day it will mean the same to them. Pupils in my school know I love to read, they see me reading, they hear me talk about books, authors etc -- it’s just something that a librarian does and enjoys to doing. “