Crisis at Christmas 2019

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 total raised is £170.  

This will reserve 6 places in a Crisis shelter this Christmas.

Books into Films

Helen Smith from Eckington School in Derbyshire compiles this wonderful Christmas TV list full of films made from books, every year.

Why not read the book before you see the film, or read it after watching the film and see if the silver screen matches up to the book?

Take a Risk

Last chance for our students to Take a Risk!!!  

Free Prize Draw will be take place during the Christmas break.

Christmas Reads

Are you looking forward to snuggling up with a good book this Christmas?

Check our our great reads in the 

War Memorial Library.

Feeling very festive in  the Discovery Library.

Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell on school Libraries

The amazing Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train your Dragon series (also made into three award winning films), and Children's Laureate, has responded to a survey by Great School Libraries. 

She said:

“From a personal point of view, I know from visiting schools around the country for over twenty years, that schools with both a library and librarian have a huge advantage over those that do not."

“Libraries and reading for pleasure support learning in every subject by encouraging intelligence, creativity and empathy, and librarians are highly skilled at the complicated process of getting the right books into the hand of the right child at the right time.”

How fantastic that The Ravensbourne School recognises this and values reading so much that we have two wonderful Libraries for our students and staff to use, run by two fully qualified and experienced Librarians.

Take a Risk is back for 2019!

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

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!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid author in Bromley!!!

Jeff Kinney

Such exciting news ..... the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series will be a Waterstones Bromley on the 21st of November to sign copies of his latest book, Wrecking Ball.  

Remembrance 2019

Our Remembrance book display in the War Memorial Library

This week saw Remembrance Day, on Monday the 11th of November, when we mark the official ending of the WWI on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, Armistice Day.

All of our students attended Remembrance assemblies organized by our History department, and on the 11th of the 11th at 11 am the school observed a one minute silence.  

Students sold poppies and other products on behalf of the Royal British Legion.

This time of year is particularly important to us at The Ravensbourne School as we remember those men and boys who taught or studied in our school and gave their lives in World War One and World War Two, whose names are on our War Memorial, in the War Memorial Library.

Anti-Bullying week

The 11th - 15th of November 2019 is Anti-Bullying Week, when students and staff in schools across England focus on bullying and how we can prevent it happening.  This year the theme is "Change Starts With Us".

Here at The Ravensbourne School we are going to take part in Odd Socks Day.

Because we know this is an important subject, both of our Libraries hold lots of useful books on the topics of bullying, self esteem and teenage stress.

Marvellous and Mischievous: Literature's Young Rebels

Anyone can be a rebel!!!

The British Library exhibition to celebrate the

marvellous and the mischevious in young people's

literature opens on on Friday the 8th of November.

Full details can be found here.

Happy Halloween

Why not celebrate Halloween by reading a spooky story?

Celebrating the Rebels and the Heroes

just because we can!!!!!!

Booker Prize winnerS 2019

Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo have been named the joint winners of the 2019 Booker Prize after the judges broke their rules by declaring a tie.

Atwood's 'The Testaments',  follow-up to The Handmaid's Tale, won alongside Evaristo's 'Girl, Woman, Other'.

The pair will split the literary award's £50,000 prize money equally.

The Booker rules say the prize must not be divided, but the judges insisted they "couldn't separate" the two works.

Atwood, 79, is the oldest ever Booker winner, while Evaristo is the first black woman to win.

Summer Reading 2019

We asked staff and students to tell us what they were reading, and where they were reading their books, during the Summer break.  

The results have been laid out on our World map. 

Whether you are travelling or at home for the half-term break, borrow a book from your school or public library and keep on reading. We would love to hear what  you have read, on your return to school. 

Mental Health Matters

We have Mental Health Matters book displays in the Discovery and War Memorial Libraries for students and staff to browse and borrow.

Libraries Week 2019

At TRS we celebrate our lovely Libraries every week but you might be interested to know that 7 - 12 October 2019 is "Libraries week".  Libraries Week is a celebration of the nation’s much-loved libraries.  Why not pop along and celebrate your Library; school, college, university, public or workplace?

National Poetry Day 2019

Watch the video below and find out how you can become the next YouTube poetry star.  

We have a great selection of poetry books in the Discovery Library and War Memorial Library if you need inspiration.

Is my book challenging enough?

If you are not sure if your book is challenging enough, or maybe it is a bit too difficult, you can apply the Five Finger Rule.  Here is fun video explaining how the Five Finger Rule works.

Roald Dahl Day

What a great author Roald Dahl was and what a fantastic legacy he left.  We hope you are having a happy 

We have lots of Roald Dahl's titles in both the Discovery Library and the War Memorial Library.

International Literacy Day

On the 8th of September every year International Literacy Day is a time for Governments, civil society and stakeholder to highlight improvements in world literacy rates and reflect on the world's remaining literacy challenges.  It is also a time when we can take the opportunity to celebrate how lucky we are to have two fantastic school Libraries, access to local public Libraries in Bromley and Lewisham and local book shops.

The Booker Prize 2019

The Booker Prize is awarded annually to the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK or Ireland..

The six books on this year's shortlist are:

Margaret Atwood The Testaments 

Lucy Ellmann Ducks, Newburyport 

Bernardine Evaristo Girl, Woman, Other 

Chigozie Obioma An Orchestra of Minorities

Salman Rushdie Quichotte

Elif Shafak 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

The winner of the year's Man Booker Prize will be announced on Monday the 14th October.

Previous Man Booker Prize winners and shortlisted titles are available to borrow from the War Memorial Library.

WELCOME BACK

We hope you all had a lovely break.  Whilst you were away we were busy getting all the new books ready for your return.  Take a look at our New Books displays.

  

Flybrary

We are not in the habit of mentioning advertising campaigns but this one caught our eye.  Easyjet have introduced a Flybrary.

They have teamed up with philanthropist and author Katie Piper to provide 60,000 books for children to read whilst on board their 300 aircraft.

Check out these fab titles.

Toni Morrison

Sad to hear that the Nobel Prize winner, author Toni Morrison, has died aged 88.  

Our Librarians recommend her titles which can be found in our War Memorial Library.

New Library at Eden Park High

Here is a sneak preview of the new Eden Park Library ... lots of new books to follow.

Eden Park High School Library

We are so pleased to be supporting Mrs Nolan, Eden Park High School's new Librarian, as she builds the new Library.  It has been fun to watch the Library growing here at The Ravensbourne School.

Mrs Nolan has put in a great deal of work and has been supported by some wonderful people, including our Administration team, TRS and EPHS teachers and a fantastic team of Learning Mentors, in creating this amazing new resource.  We had the opportunity to visit the new Library today (thank you to Carl of bandk for hosting our visit)  - pictures to follow!

Farewell Mrs Nolan

We are sad to say our Librarian
 Mrs Nolan is leaving us this summer.  However, we are very happy to announce that the new Librarian at Eden Park High School will be ....... Mrs Nolan!

Good luck but not goodbye, we look forward to working with Mrs Nolan within the e21c Trust.

Follow the progress of the lovely new Eden Park High School Library here.

International Visitors

It was lovely to be given the opportunity to host the welcoming event in the War Memorial Library for our international visitors from the Chinese school of Hezhou in Guangxi region.

We also had fun running a Library Quiz in the Discovery Library.  Thank you to our visitors for their participation and enthusiasm! 

New Children's Laureate announced!

The amazing Cressida Cowell, author of How to Train Your Dragon and  other children's books, has been appointed Children's Laureate.

Cressida has created a Children's Laureate Charter ..... make sure you stand up for your rights as a reader!!!

Branford Boase Award 2019 - winner announced!

Awarded annually for an outstanding first novel to a debut writer of children’s and YA fiction and their editor, the winners this year are Muhammad Khan and his editor Lucy Pearse for I Am Thunder.  

The novel tells the story of  Munza, a 15 year old British Muslim school girl growing up in London and how she becomes radicalised.  It is inspired by the tragic story of the three British schoolgirls who flew to Syria to join the 'Islamic State' in 2015.

I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan is available to borrow from the Library.

Word of the Week - Recent Winners

The Library runs competitions throughout the year, including Word of the Week. Below are a selection of some recent winners. 

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.  All Word of the Week winners receive a pen of their choice!

Discovery Library

Pandemonium 

Noun: Wild confusion; uproar

chosen by Caitlin (7NA)

   

Relish 

Verb: To savour or enjoy to the full.

chosen by Rowan(7GR)

Ubiquitous 

Adjective: Seeming to be everywhere.

chosen by Elizabeth (7LP)

Crescendo 

Noun: A gradual increase in the volume of noise of a musical piece or in intensity.

chosen by Elise (7BK)

Nonchalant 

Adjective: Acting calm when you’re actually obsessed with something.

chosen by Leah (7YO)

Petrified 

Adjective: Very scared; so frightened that you cannot think or move.

chosen by Leah (7MC)

Grotesque 

Adjective: Someone or something that is comically or repulsively ugly or distorted.

chosen by Jessica (7HT)

Apoplectic 

Adjective: This means when you are so full of anger that it looks like you are going to pop.

chosen by Kitty (7 Alessi)

Quiver 

Verb: To shake or tremble with different emotions.

chosen by Che (7 Alessi)

Lugubrious 

Adjective: Gloomy, mournful.

chosen by Rachel Gumbo (7 Kapoor)

Equivocate

Verb: To use ambiguous words to hide the truth.

chosen by Benjamin (8 Saxon)

Beleaguered

Verb: Experiencing lots of difficulties or criticism.

chosen by Murodullo (7 Alessi)

War Memorial Library

Tenuous 

Adjective: Very slender or fine; insubstantial.

chosen by Mr Shuttleworth (History)

Monochrome 

Adjective: A photograph or picture done in black and white or in a range of tones of a single colour.

chosen by Toni (12CR)

Absquatulate 

Verb: To leave somewhere abruptly

chosen by Jessica (12TD)

Nebulous 

Noun: Vague or unclear; hazy.

chosen by Max (Year 12)

Equanimity 

Noun: Calmness and composure, especially in a difficult situation.

chosen by Mr Shuttleworth (History)

Exasperated 

Verb: Irritate intensely; infuriate.

chosen by Ms Mells (History)

Epigrammatic 

Adjective: Something that is quotable and wise-sounding.

chosen by Shannon (Yr13)

Anhedonia 

Noun: The loss of interest in many of the things you used to enjoy doing.

chosen by Elizabeth (11Blake)

Fastidious 

Adjective: Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail.

chosen by Sophie (Year 12)

Samzidat 

Noun: A clandestine copying and distribution of literature banned by the state.

chosen by Ben (Year 12) 

Pernicious 

Adjective: To have a harmful effect in a subtle way.

chosen by Chuks (Year 12) 

Peripeteia 

Noun: A sudden reversal of fortune or a change in circumstances (especially in fictional narrative).

chosen by Shannon (Year 13) 

Insouciance 

Noun: A casual lack of concern; nonchalance.

chosen by Mrs Nolan (Librarian)

Palimpsest 
Noun: A manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed over the original faded writing.
chosen by Sophie (Year 12)

Plenipotentiary 
Noun: A person, especially a diplomat, vested with full power of independent action on behalf of their government.
chosen by Eden (Year 13)

Lollygag
Verb: To spend time aimlessly; laze around.
chosen by Mr Lucas (Geography)