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.