Term time
A birthday bash for the BFG, dreamy poetry and awards all round... find out what's happening in this term!
Nestlé Children’s Book Prize winners
Winners of the 2007 Nestlé Children’s Book Prize were announced on 12 December. Gold medals went to the fantasy tale Shadow Forest, a debut novel by Matt Haig who was once a bartender at one of Ibiza’s best-known clubs (9 to 11 years category); When a Monster is Born by Sean Taylor and Nick Sharratt (under five category) and Ottoline and the Yellow Cat by Chris Riddell (6 to 8 years category) – making this the fifth time Chris has won a Nestlé Children’s Book Prize award! The Scholastic title Here Lies Arthur by the best-selling author Philip Reeve was awarded a bronze medal in the 9 to 11 years category. For a full list of winning titles visit www.booktrusted.co.uk/nestle
Poetry is alive and kicking
A nationwide poetry competition has prompted nearly 5,000 school children to get creative on the theme of Dreams. Judges of the Children’s Poetry Bookshelf Competition were astounded by the quality of the children’s poems and the winning entries were described as ‘a clutch of terrific poems’. All the winning children were awarded their prizes at a gala celebration in the Unicorn Theatre, London, hosted by the Poetry Book Society. Michael Rosen, who was the Chair of the judging panel said: 'We were delighted by the accomplishment of this year’s entries, beautiful and surprising pictures hit us between the eyes and we felt that over and over again the children had really made these poems matter to them and this was no exercise.’
The First Prize winners were Haydn Robinson, aged ten and Frank Amundsen, aged seven. You can read all the winning poems at www.childrenspoetrybookshelf.co.uk
The BFG is 25!
Hard to believe, but the Big Friendly Giant, a classic from Roald Dahl, has been delighting (and slightly scaring!) children for 25 years. To mark the 25th anniversary, The Polka Theatre in London has adapted this ever-popular story, using music, masks puppetry and humans. It is showing until 9 February 2008. More information and booking available on www.polkadottheatre.com
Take the ‘boring’ out of Shakespeare
Take yourself on a course in Stratford upon Avon on Friday 1 February to discover the perfect antidote for children who find Shakespeare inaccessible. You will explore practical strategies for making Shakespeare's characters and stories live in the contemporary classroom including ways of modelling the characters and debating their circumstances; and ways to help children empathise with characters and find their own meanings in the action. You'll be able to motivate all children – even the most reluctant!
In London on Friday 8 February you can discover new activities to inspire children’s creativity and improve standards in creative writing by attending a course for KS2 teachers. During the day you will explore a sequence of writing and drama techniques inspired by Shakespeare's plays, learn to use script writing with confidence, excitement and imagination, build scenes and create exciting narratives and original dialogues.
Find out more on www.rsc.org.uk/learning or telephone Teachers' Programme administrator, Sheila O'Sullivan, on 01789 403462.
Scooping the library award
Brookfield Community School in Derbyshire is celebrating after scooping a top libraries award. They are the first school in the country to undertake and successfully gain the Quality in Libraries Award from ROWA! (Read on Write Away!), a community-focused partnership working to make improvements in standards of literacy from cradle to grave.
To gain the Award library staff had to attend a series of Skills for Life training sessions, gather evidence to demonstrate how they offer an excellent service to both staff and children and pass assessment from an independent judge. Running regular Scholastic Book Fairs is a part of the high-quality service that the library offers and library staff were thrilled that a Book Fair was taking place when the Award was made!
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