This year’s Book Week was the highlight of the year in the CNS Library with hundreds of students participating in a week of fantastic book-related events.
The Year 7s were delighted to hear a talk by Lauren St John, award-winning author of ‘The One Dollar Horse’, ‘Laura Marlin’ and ‘Wolfe and Lamb’ series of books. Lauren explained how her upbringing in Zimbabwe and her life-long passion for animal and environmental conservation provide the inspiration for her brilliant adventure and mystery novels for children.
The Year 8s were treated to a VIP visit from poet, author, broadcaster and ex-Children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen. Michael came to CNS to tell students about his latest book, ‘The Missing’. ‘The Missing’ is an account of his search to discover the fate of his two great-uncles, Martin and Oscar, who were murdered in Auschwitz Concentration Camp during World War II. Michael is an outstanding communicator and the talk and his book clearly describe the tragedy and cruelty of The Holocaust perfectly for young people. The Year 8s have been studying persecution in Religious Studies so Michael’s talk was particularly timely. Students from all year groups swamped the library at lunchtime in order to meet Michael – we clearly had a superstar in our midst!
We were pleased to share this event with approximately 80 students and staff from Burford School and are grateful to Mrs Cooper, Librarian at Burford School, for her help in organizing the visit. At the time of writing, Michael Rosen is sadly receiving treatment in hospital and is described as being in ‘a poorly but stable condition’. I am sure that all our students wish him a very speedy recovery.
Other activities during the week included a Year7/8 book quiz. Seven teams of students competed against each other to show off their literary knowledge. Congratulations to the winners, Jessica, Kiera, Niamh and Lucy in Year 7.
Many students attempted to discover the names of 20 classic children’s books from a set of object clues. The winner was Sebastian Stewart (8AXM) who correctly identified all the books.
On World Book Day students were invited to take part in a whole school treasure hunt, with the treasure being members of staff! Staff members were each given a name of a popular book and students were challenged to match as many book titles to staff names throughout the day. The corridors were very busy at break and lunchtime with hordes of students trying to track down teachers to politely find out the name of their book. The winners of the treasure hunt were Cara, Grace, Lily and Annika in Year 7 (Team prize) and Cadence in Year 9 (Individual prize).
At the end of the week the library was transformed into a ‘Reading Café’ with students invited to come along with their lunches, read a good book and enjoy a complimentary cupcake. It was a lovely end to a very busy week and a good reminder to us that reading is a great way to relax and recharge.
