Crisis at Christmas 2014

Thousands of people will be homeless this Christmas.

Each year, some of the staff at TRS choose to make a donation to Crisis instead of sending Christmas cards.  This year the students in 8ST joined staff in donating, giving up money they would have spent on pizza, and helping to raise a total of £350.

Crisis is a charity which offers shelter, companionship and life-changing services to people who are homeless.  To find out more visit the Crisis website.

Christmas Book and Film-Tie ins on TV

Why not enjoy a good book this Christmas holiday? Come and browse our display of Christmas books and books with a film tie-in on TV over the Christmas holidays in the Discovery library! Our display in the War Memorial Library includes festive reads!

 

We have lots of great titles in the both the Discovery and War Memorial libraries, including those in our ‘new books’ section so please feel free to browse and borrow.

Also, School Librarian, Helen Smith, has compiled her annual list of Christmas book and film tie-ins that are on TV over the Christmas Period. Please click on the link below to view: Christmas book to film list 2014

YA Book Prize 2015

The Bookseller’s new YA Book Prize 2015 short-list has been announced.  The list contains 10 books featuring a mix of dystopia, horror, fantasy, romance and realism.
They are:

• A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond 

• Salvage by Keren David

• Say Her Name by James Dawson

• Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

• Half Bad by Sally Green

• Finding a Voice by Kim Hood

• Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill 

• Goose by Dawn O'Porter 

• Trouble by Non Pratt

• The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick

Judging will be taking place over the next few months and the winning author will be presented with the prize at a ceremony at Foyles in March.

Some of these titles are available to borrow in the Discovery and War Memorial Libraries.

Are You Ready to Take a Risk?

The Library’s ‘Take a Risk’ competition is back by popular demand for Christmas! 

To take part all you need to do is borrow a mystery ‘Take A Risk Book’, fill in the short questionnaire and you will automatically win a prize, and have your name entered into a free prize draw with the chance to win more prizes. PLUS there are spot prizes to be won!  

See a Librarian in the Discovery Library for details - Everyone's a winner!

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2014 - winner announced

Piers Torday has won the this year's Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for his novel The Dark Wild, sequel to his debut novel, The Last Wild.

The prize is judged by authors and previous winners have included Jacqueline Wilson, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Ted Hughes, Philip Pulman and Meg Rosoff.  

The Last Wild trilogy by Paul Torday is available to borrow from the Discovery Library.

Remembrance Displays in the War Memorial Library

All this week there have been special Remembrance assemblies taking place.

The students have also been selling poppies and some of the KS3 students have created some wonderful artefacts that are on display in the War Memorial Library.

The War Memorial Library is for the use of KS4 and 5 students and staff only and we are aware that the KS3 students do not get to see the memorial.  We have therefore arranged a timetable of visits for the Year 7 students during Form Time this term.

We have an excellent collection of war based novels, poetry and non-fiction in both the Discovery and War Memorial Libraries, including Carnegie and Greenaway shortlisted novel Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein and Bird Song by Sebastian Faulks.

Remembrance Day - Lest We Forget

Remembrance Day takes place on 11 November every year in Commonwealth Countries, marking the official ending of the WWI on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, Armistice Day.   A two minute silence is held on this day every year so that we do not forget the millions killed, injured and affected by war and people wear remembrance poppies.  The Discovery Library has a special Remembrance display of war time story books for you to borrow. 

The Ravensbourne School war memorial, initially dedicated to students and staff who gave their lives in the Great War, is situated in the KS4/5 Library; known as the War Memorial Library. It was added to again after World War II. The war memorial is important to the life of the school and we mention it often.

Carve out time to read this Halloween!

Why not enjoy a ‘spooky’ read this half term? 

Come and have a look at our Halloween display in the Discovery library and borrow a scary book!

We have lots of other good reads available in our ‘new books’ section and throughout the library.

Dave Gibbons to be UK's First Comics Laureate

Dave Gibbons, best-selling graphic novelist, is to become the first Comics Laureate from February 2015.  His work includes Watchmen (with Alan Moore), which you can borrow from the War Memorial Library, as well as 2000AD and Doctor Who.

The announcement was made on 17^th October at the launch of the new charity Comics Literacy Awareness (CLAw) at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. The purpose of the role is to champion children’s literacy through school visits, training events for school staff and education conferences.  It is to be appointed every two years to a comics writer or artist in recognition of their outstanding achievement in the field.

We have a growing collection of graphic novels in the War Memorial and Discovery Libraries, including graphic novel versions of Charlie Higson and Eoin Colfer books, Manga versions of Darren Shan and James Patterson novels and Marvel Comic graphic novels.

Man Booker Prize Winner 2014

Australian author Richard Flanagan has won this year’s Man Booker Prize for his novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.  It is a book about war and love and was inspired by his father’s experience as a prisoner of war on the Thailand-Burma railway.

Eric Lomax’s autobiography The Railway Man, also about a Japanese prisoner of war forced to work on the Burma-Siam railway is available to borrow from the War Memorial Library.

Richard Flanagan with trophy and book - credit Janie Airey

Former Student visit to TRS

Occasionally we are contacted by former students of the school, often ‘old boys’, who attended The Ravensbourne School when it was a boy’s grammar school. Their visits often reawaken fond memories of the time they spent here.  Recently, Mr Shaw contacted our business manager Mrs Cathy Whiting to arrange a visit.  Below is the letter of thanks he sent and a wonderful picture of himself, now in his 80s, as a dinner prefect here in 1948!

I would very much like to thank you, and your library colleague for taking the time to show me around the old school.  It was quite an experience for me, the years seemed to slip away, and I was back there again.  The school still seemed to retain its atmosphere of calm, wellbeing, and friendliness that I knew.  Your attitude towards the school came across very strong, love of the past, and looking forward to its future.

  I found this old photo of the 1948 dinner prefects and thought it would amuse you.

  Thank you so much again, all the very best to you and the school.

Alan Shaw

A brief history of the school is available on the TRS website and the school archives are now held at Bromley Central Library as part of their local studies collection.   

Remember National Poetry Day

This Thursday, 2^nd October is the 20^th National Poetry Day. This year’s theme is ‘remember’.

A well-known poem about remembering begins ‘Remember, remember! The fifth of November, The Gunpowdertreason and plot’ and it recounts the story of Guy Fawkes, who on 5^th November 1605 was caught trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament with barrels of gunpowder.

This year we are remembering the 100^th anniversary of the First World War and we have poetry by Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Rupert Graves and many other in the libraries.To find out more about National Poetry Day visit The Poetry Society website.

Book Reviews

We'd love to hear what you have been reading and what books you would recommend to others.

Whether it's the latest in a series, a classic or a much loved favourite, we'd like to know and post it on our blog.

To find out which books other students have recommended go to the Book Reviews page.  For hints and tips on how to write your own reviews scroll down to the 'tips on how to write a book review' links on the right hand side of the screen. 

Post-a-Read 2014

Thank you to everyone who told us what they were reading over the summer holidays. We had even more postcards than last year from Australia to Devon and France to Turkey and lots of excellent book recommendations!

Of those who sent us postcards, Ms Gallagher and Mr Contreras-Ramis read the most books and amongst the students, Fleur in Year 8.

Come and have a look at our display, which is on the noticeboard outside the Discovery Library.

Banned books

Next week is banned books week in the USA. Some of the books that were listed on the American Library Association’s top 10 most challenged books of 2013 were:

Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey (Discovery Library)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Discovery Library)

Looking for Alaska by John Green (War Memorial Library)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (War Memorial Library)

Feel free to ask us why the books were banned and to borrow them!

Man Booker Prize 2014 - shortlist announced

The Man BookerPrize 2014 for fiction shortlist has been announced this week. It includes British writers Harold Jacobsen and Ali Smith. The winner will be announced on Thursday 14th October.

Previous winners of this award have included Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2002), Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (1993) and Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally (1982). These books, and other prize winning novels, are available to borrow from the War Memorial Library.

Welcome Back!

It is the start of a new year and we would like to welcome back all the students and staff and welcome all those who are new to the school and we hope that you enjoy your time here.

We hope you had a great summer - we received some postcards telling us what you were reading and look forward to displaying these.

We have a great collection of fiction and non-fiction to browse and borrow in our libraries, with librarians on hand to help with homework and recommend a good read - just ask! Remember that for the KS3 students, the Discovery Library is open before and after school as well as at lunch time for quiet study. For KS4 students, the War Memorial Library is open at lunch time and for Post 16 students, it is available to use throughout the day including morning break.

Look out for our library competitions, including our weekly Word of the Week competition, with loads of great prizes to be won. We have changing book displays and displays of new books to encourage reading for pleasure. We are happy to consider buying any books that we do not currently have – just ask! There are suggestion boxes too for any comments or suggestions you may have.

We look forward to seeing you in the Discovery and War Memorial Libraries.

Win a set of wartime themed books for your school library

Would you like to win a bundle of wartime-themed books for your school library? To celebrate the Centenary, Random House Children’s Publishers have THREE SETS to give away.

To be in with a chance of winning please write a short poem about the war.

It can be about the First or Second World War and on any subject that interests you the most. It can be an individual poem or a class effort, we can’t wait to hear them all! Get creative and decorate them too if you like!

Send your poems to:

Wartime Poetry competitionRandom House Children’s PublishersPenguin Random House UK57-63 Uxbridge Road,
London,
W5 5SA

by Friday 12th September 2014. Make sure you write yourNAME, AGE, ADDRESS OF YOUR SCHOOL on the back!

Winners will be notified within 20 days of the competition closing. The prize is a set of wartime themed books for your school library.

Summer Update and School Aid donation

Summer is always a very busy time in the libraries, as this is when we have a good sort out.  This includes tidying and ‘weeding’ the books.  ‘Weeding’ involves getting rid of books that are no longer being read or are worn out in order to make room for all the new books that we have bought.  Where possible, we try to make sure that the unwanted books go to charity or are recycled.

This year we proud to announce that we have donated some of our books to School Aid, a charity who support children in need in Africa, through the Entertainer Toy Shop.  Hilary Weller from School Aid wrote us a letter to thank us for our donation and to explain how it will help.  Hilary explained that “each day millions of children in Africa are unable to attend school, often due to a simple lack of basic school equipment and without a good education the escape from poverty is impossible”.  School Aid helps to bridge the gap by providing educational materials to meet the needs of young people in disadvantaged communities.  To find our more about School Aid and where our donation goes visit: www.school-aid.org.

We hope you are having a great summer and look forward to receiving your postcards telling us what you are reading!

Foresters Donates £1,400 to TRS Libraries

The Ravensbourne School Libraries were presented with a donation of £1,400 from Foresters, as part of their 140th anniversary celebrations.  With this kind donation, we have revamped our geography section with a selection of new countries books, purchased an up-to-date collection of UCAS subject guides on getting into university and bought a selection of World Cup 2014 books and loads of “hot-off-press” new fiction titles.

Jennifer, Holly, Monique, Shakir, Nathaniel, Matthew and Edward were our enthusiastic helpers, who were on hand to help us unpack our new books.

Summer Reading

Looking for ideas about what to read over the long summer holidays? Below are some excellent websites that are full of great book recommendations as well as interviews and information on your favourite authors. You can personalise your search and create your very own reading lists. Just click on the links below and browse:

Lovereading4kids 2014 Summer Reading list

 

 

Everyone's Reading booklist

Read Kiddo Read advance reads

 

 

The Guardian Children's Books

 

 

Book Trust children's book recommendations

 

 

Also, look out for the books that have been recommended by TRS students. Go to the book review section of our blog for the full book review. You may also be interested in the new books section of our blog, giving the highlights and blurb on the best new books!  Among our favourites are:

 

 

 

Word of the Week Competition - recent winners

All Word of the Week winners receive a pen of their choice.   If you have an interesting or unusual word that you want to share with everyone, please ask for an entry form in either of the Libraries.  The competition is available to enter in both the Discovery and War Memorial Libraries.

Discovery Library

Idiosyncrasy

Noun: A distinctive or peculiar feature or characteristic of a place or thing.
chosen by Jennifer (7 DV)

Astonished

Adjective: Greatly surprised or impressed; amazed.
chosen by George (8 SA)

Protégé (Protégée)

Noun: A person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person.
chosen by Max (7 ST)

Isomorphism

Noun:  In Biology, similarity of form, as in different generations of the same life cycle.
chosen by Louie (7 NE)

Impedimenta

Noun: Equipment for an activity or expedition, especially when considered as bulky or an encumbrance.
chosen by Brandon (7 ST)

Intrigue

Verb: Arouse the curiosity or interest of; fascinate.
chosen by Ellie (7 ST)

Lacuna

Noun: An unfilled space; a gap.
chosen by Shannon (9 BT)

Arboretum

Noun: A botanical garden devoted to trees.
chosen by Gabriella (8 TN)

Camaraderie

Noun: Mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together.
chosen by Jennifer (7 DV)

Quahog

Noun: A large, rounded edible clam of the Atlantic coast of North America.
chosen by William (8 NA)

Palatable

Adjective: Pleasant to taste.
chosen by Max (7 ST)

Abstemious

Adjective: Indulging only very moderately in something, especially food and drink.
chosen by James (7 GR)

Monetarism

Noun: The theory or practice of controlling the supply of money as the chief method of stabilizing the economy.
chosen by Jazz (7 ST)

Jettison

Verb: Throw or drop (something) from an aircraft or ship.
chosen by Ben (7 ST)

Unsophisticated

Adjective: Lacking refined worldly knowledge or tastes.
chosen by Lewis (7 MD)

Epiphany

Noun: A moment of sudden and great revelation or realization.
chosen by Comert (7 ST)

Observation

Noun: Information we can see or know from a source or piece of evidence.
chosen by Kaio (7 NG)


War Memorial Library

Vexatious

Adjective: Causing or tending to cause annoyance, frustration or worry.
chosen by Mr Crowther (History)

Abomination

Adjective: Causing or tending to cause annoyance, frustration or worry.
chosen by Mr Crowther (History)

Institutionalise

Verb: To subject (a person) to the deleterious effect of confinement in an institution.
chosen by Daniel (12 LE)

Proteomics

Noun: The study of how the genome is expressed into proteins.
chosen by Mr Carrick (Science)

Pi

Noun: Pi is the 16^th letter of the Greek alphabet and represents a number – approximately 3.142.
chosen by Mr Cayless (Maths)

Quiche

Noun: A savoury, open–faced pastry crust with a filling of savoury custard with cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables.  Also term from BBC 3 Comedy mockumentary Ja’mie: Private School Girl meaning “very attractive”.
chosen by Alice (13 FT)

Funicular

Noun: Also called funicular railway, is a railway up a mountainside, consisting of two cars at either end of a cable passing round a driving wheel at the summit.  The ascending and descending cars are counterbalanced.
chosen by Daniel (11 CI)

Globalization

Noun: The process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.
chosen by Monique Jafarpouran (12 PL)

Fascist

Noun: 1) A supporter or member of a Fascist movement.  2) Any person regarded as haing right-wing authoritarian views.
chosen by Ms Roberts (Librarian)

Languish

Verb: To be forced to remain in an unpleasant situation or place.
chosen by Fae (10 CC)

Non sequitur

Noun: A conclusion that does not follow from the evidence given.  Latin, = “it does not follow”..
chosen by Mr Salisbury (Site Team)

Abbreviations

Noun: The shortened form of words or phrases.
chosen by Toby Davis (10 BY)

Persiflage

Noun: Light frivolous conversation or writing, also know as banter.
chosen by Ms Gallagher (English)

Frivolous

Adjective: not serious or sensible in content, attitude or behaviour.
chosen by Ellie Ousby (12 BA)

Verfremdungseffekt

Noun: The distancing effect technique in theatre and cinema that prevents the audience from losing themselves completely in the narrative, instead making them conscious, critical observers.
chosen by Chloe Power (12 PL)

Antonym

Noun: A word that is opposite in meaning to another.
chosen by Harry (12 MS)

Tintinnabulation

Noun: The ringing or pealing of bells.
chosen by Ms Gallagher (English)