Got Caught Reading 2016

Over 5 days, we gave 5 different teachers disposable cameras and asked them to take 5 pictures of their students reading!  We had a great selection of readers from Year 7 to Year 13 and have created an amazing collage of all the photographs, which is on display outside the Discovery Library.

The students who were photographed received achievement points and the following 8 students were winners in the free prize draw:

Tristan O 7CH, Natalia V 7CH, Alana S 7CH, Paul D 7SH, Shanique B 8MA, Oscar S 8AM, Jazz A 9ST and Courtney R 10BN.

Come and have a look to see if you can spot yourself or your friends and keep reading!

Somme Centenary and The Lord of the Rings

The Somme (http://lionheartnews.com)

On Friday, 1 July, we commemorated the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, which was fought between July and November 1916.  Described as one of the defining events of the First World War, when the battle was halted more than 1 million Commonwealth, French and German soldiers had been wounded, captured or killed.  The War Memorial in the War Memorial Library at TRS is dedicated to staff who gave their lives in the Great War.

Author JRR Tolkien was among those who took part in the Somme.  He was a signaller in the Lancashire Fusiliers and two of this best friends were killed in the battle.  His epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings was inspired by his experiences at the Somme.  You can borrow all three volumes, The Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers and Return of the King from the Discovery Library.

Other great novels inspired by their author’s direct experience of war, including Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, are available to borrow from the War Memorial Library.

Carnegie and Greenaway Medal Winners 2016 Announced!

The 2016 CILIP Carnegie Medal, awarded for an outstanding book for children, has been won by Sarah Crossan for One, a free verse novel about conjoined twins.  Crossan has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal twice before, so her win this time is third time lucky!  

You can find this book and other titles on the Carnegie shortlist in the Discovery and War Memorial Libraries.

The Kate Greenaway Medal, awarded for an outstanding illustrated book for children, has been won by acclaimed author, illustrator and Children’sLaureate Chris Riddell for The Sleeper and the Spindle.  Written by Neil Gaiman, Chris Riddell has created exquisitely beautiful illustrations for this dark and humorous re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. Chris Riddell becomes the first reigning Children’s Laureate to win and the first triple winner of either award.

You can find The Sleeper and the Spindle in the War Memorial Library.

Sarah Crossan and Chris Riddell each receive £500 worth of books to donate to their local library.  Both are also awarded the £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize.

YA Book Prize 2016 - winner announced!

The Booksellers YA Book Prize 2016 has been won by Sarah Crossan for her free verse novel One.  Crossan's novel tells the moving story of conjoined twins Grace and Tippi and their heartbreaking dilemma to stay together or be separated. Told from Grace's point of view, it allows the reader to see the twins as two separate people, rather than one.

One has also been shortlisted for this year's CILIP Carnegie Award, the winner of which will be announced this Monday, 20th June.

You can find One and other books by Sarah Crossan in the Discovery Library.  Sarah Crossan


Melvyn Burgess has been given YA Book Prize achievement award to mark 20 years since the publication of his novel Junk.  Winner of the 1997 Carnegie Award, Junk caused controversy because, written for teenagers, it tackled the difficult issues of drugs and prostitution.  Junk is available to borrow from the War Memorial Library.

EURO 2016 - Display

To celebrate the UEFA Euro 2016 competition, which takes place in France between June 10 and July 10, we have put together a display of great footballing reads for you to browse and borrow.  As well as footballing fiction, fantastic quick reads and footballing facts, we also have some brilliant books on France, the host nation!

Also, look out for the Dan Freedman Jamie Johnson series of books, about a boy, who is a talented footballer but has to move house and start a new school when his father leaves. These books have been made into a CBBC series being shown this June to tie in with the Euro 2016 Championships!

Click here to view the first three episodes of Jamie Johnson on BBC iplayer!

Euro 2016 - Factoids

The UEFA European Championship 2016 or Euro 2016 for short kicks off later today in France!  The competition is held every four years and Spain are the current defending champions, having won Euro 2008 and Euro 2012.

• 53 teams will be taking part in the qualifying competition.
• There will be 51 matches played – 20 more games than in 2012.
• 150 million spectators are expected to follow each game live.
• 13 out of the 16 teams that qualified in 2012 have qualified for Euro 2016, including England.  
• 5 teams have qualified for a Euro final for the first time ever – Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Wales.
• Scotland were the only team from the UK not to qualify for the finals.  Former champions Greece, Netherlands and Denmark also failed to qualify. 

Year 7 Spelling Bee!

This half term Mr Coppola is launching an American style spelling bee competition for Year 7 students!

 There will be 20 words to learn each week, 10 in tutor time and another 10 for independent learning.  

You will learn how to prepare for a spelling bee, understand different strategies for spellings and learn and discuss new words. 

Each tutor group will run their own spelling bee to find the best two spellers in the group.  At the end of term there will be a spelling bee competition for the top spellers across the whole year group featuring some of the words that you have learnt plus others.  There will be a trophy, certificate and lots of applause for the winner!