Wednesday 29 June 2011

Sports Day 2011

I am honoured to be presented with a PE shirt today - am now an honorary member of the PE department. This is a result of assisting with PE trips - rounders, cricket, netball, Athletics, tennis, football to name a few. PLus I love sport!
I will wear my shirt with pride on Friday.


Librarian Chic

Our Library Assistant Victoria is wearing these fabulous (and they don't stop her shelving...) shoes today. Proof that Buns and glasses are no more.

Thursday 23 June 2011

Islington Carnegie Shadowing Ceremony

This morning the Carnegie shadowing group joined several other Islington schools at the Islington ceremony, organised by the Education Library Service, at Central Foundation School.

After a couple of last minute rehearsals, we headed off down to Old Street and managed to get ourselves lost, thanks to our guide, Munna! We joined the other schools in the LRC, where the girls ate lots of biscuits to counter their nerves.
The first part of the morning was a talk by Malaika Rose Stanley, author of several books, including 'Spike and Alienson' and 'Baby Ruby Bawled.' She treated us to a fun session, whereby she asked children from the audience to come up and ask her questions and awarded spot prizes. She also talked about her forthcoming book, aimed at teenagers, 'Skin Deep.'

Everyone then moved up the the Lecture Theatre. The girls were very impressed with the room and said it put our school to shame - but I pointed out that we will hopefully have our own new school late next year and they suggested that we could host the Carnegie ceremony one year to show off our new school.

Each school then did their presentation; there were some really good interpretations of books including a radio preaentation, some scenes from 'The amazing Pepper Roux' and culminating in a 'Bookshop Owner's Den' sketch from Central Foundation School.
EGA put on their sketch which was 5 short scenes based on 'Out of Shadows.' They performed really well and highlighted the issue of racism, which is at the heart of the book.

After the presentations the voting took place and we were pleased that 'Out of Shadows' won, as this had been our group's favourite book, followed by 'The Bride's Farewell' and 'Prisoner of the Inquisition.'

It was a very successful and enjoyable morning, especially when Malaika Rose Stanley asked if she could use the Reading Group to pilot 'Skin Deep,' ready for the launch in September. Naturally, we were happy to oblige!


The national winner was announced this afternoon, as 'Monsters of Men' by Patrick Ness. This was the third book in a trilogy, so was not a popular choice for our group, but overall the whole experience was enjoyable and worthwhile.

Tuesday 21 June 2011

Carnegie Shadowing progress

This week we are taking part in the Islington Carnegie Shadowing event to be held on Thursday at Central Foundation Boys School. We are performing a few short scenes from 'Out of Shadows' by Jason Wallace. So far we have had one read through and one staged rehearsal, squeezed in to lunch breaks. We have two more lunchtimes before the event - so it will rely heavily on improvisation, I feel.
However, the enthusiasm of the girls will carry it through, I am fully confident of that.

Last night, in need of a hat for the character of Weekend, I went into the local Charity shop and found this perfect hat - modelled here by Ms Silva, at staff briefing this morning!

Thursday 16 June 2011

Recycled Suitcase Prop

Rosanna made this lovely suitcase from paper recycling boxes. It's a prop for our play 'Out of Shadows' for the Islington Carnegie ceremony next week.

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Top Five issues by Year Group January - June 2011



I thought I'd have a look at the most frequently borrowed books since January 2011 - Good to see Year 10 have their priorities right!

Year 7
1. Little Darlings - Jacqueline Wilson
2. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
3. Sleepovers - Jacqueline Wilson
4. The Worry Website - Jacqueline Wilson
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth - Jeff Kinnear

Year 8
1. Evermore:The Immortals 1 - Alyson Noel
2. City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
3. Diary of a Wimpy kid - Jeff Kinnear
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth - Jeff Kinnear
5. Gass Houses - Rachel Caine

Year 9
1. Awakened - PC Cast
2. Paranormalcy - Kiersten White
3. Scarred - Julia Hoban
4. When I was Joe - Keren David
5. Reckoning - Kelley Armstrong

Year 10
1. GCSE Double Science Chemistry Revision Higher - Richard Parsons
2. Kisses from Hell - PC Cast
3. Bloodline - Kate Cary
4. Cross my heart and hope to spy - Ally Carter
5. City of Bones  - Cassandra Clare

Year 11
1. City of Bones  - Cassandra Clare
2. Awakened - PC Cast
3. English AQA Revise - Steven Croft
4. City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare
5. Don't judge a girl by her cover - Ally Carter

Monday 13 June 2011

Carnegie Shadowing Page

View the reading Groups page on the Carnegie Shadowing site

Booked Up Registration now Active!


Registration is now open to receive free books for  your Year 7s in September. Register your school by July 29th

Wimpy Kid Competition 2011

We were thrilled with the response to our Wimpy Kid competition where we asked students to design their own cartoon. The responses were interesting and very original! Here are the winning entries:






Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace



This book is on the Carnegie shadowing shortlist 2011.
Out of Shadows is set in Zimbabwe in the 1980’s, in the early years of Mugabe’s reign and black independence. The setting is a privileged white boarding school, which is being forced to come to terms with the new status of black people in the country. The story is told through the eyes of Robert, who comes to the country (then Rhodesia) from England and initially is extremely unhappy to be there. He befriends the black students, as they, like he are outsiders, but at the same time struggles to be accepted by the dominant group of white students, sons of farmers who are losing land and are full of resentment at the new regime.
Ivan is a bully and his cruelty and the power he has over Robert form the heart of the story. Bullying, loneliness and dysfunctional families are all themes of the book. Robert becomes entrenched in Ivan’s gang and his realisation towards the end of the story at what they are planning to do and his attempts to extricate himself make an exciting ending.
The character of Robert is well drawn and sympathetic. The book evoked a strong sense of sadness in me, as so much cruelty is inflicted on innocent people. I would recommend this book to older students – I couldn’t put it down!

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Obama scrapbook and Aneesah Siddiqui in 'The Times'

All the Obama news cuttings have been put together in a scrapbook, which we presented to the Head yesterday.

Aneesah Siddiqui wrote this article which was published in 'The Times' newspaper:

Some of you may have read the following article
already as it was printed in ‘The Times’ on Thursday
26th May. We were very proud to see one of our
students in print in such a prestigious national
newspaper. For those of you who missed it, here
is a chance to read about Aneesah’s experiences
in Oxford.
‘Before yesterday, Oxford University was totally
beyond my aspirations. I knew about its elite
status from the media. But, I believed that
because of the expense, I would never achieve it.
After my unbelievable experience I now believe
that any money paid to attend this university
would be worth it. No price can be put on such an
amazing education, surely?
On the way to Oxford the atmosphere on the
coach was electric; everyone was buzzing with
excitement and looking forward to the day.
My fi rst impression of Oxford was that it was
unbelievably clean, so much cleaner and much
more beautiful than London.
We fi rstly took part in a workshop led by three
inspirational female academics from Oxford
University. The physics lecturer really connected
with me because I am captivated by science and
I began to think about potentially working with
her one day. This day was already like a dream to
me.
Lunch at Wadham College was incredible. I was
captivated by the stunning room, the stained
glass, the history, the portraits and the people
who had been there throughout history. It
seemed wrong to be sitting in there eating
sandwiches – it felt as if the room had only ever
been used for ten course banquets! This was a
good opportunity for us to talk to the Oxford
University Mentors who were looking after us. I
was paired with a PPE student who said he would
help with my application for Oxford when the
time came.
When we were walking to the room where we
would meet Michelle Obama, I was petrifi ed. My
hands were shaking as I took my seat. We all stared
at the door through which she was going to enter.
When she fi nally came through that door we were
beaming! I fi nally met my role model. She looked
angelic in white. When she was delivering her
speech, I was transfi xed. I couldn’t believe that
she cared so much about my school in Islington. I
was amazed at how close I was to her.
When we began to ask our questions, I was
longing for my turn. I was overwhelmed as Mrs
Obama gave me her microphone, I was just
thinking about how I was holding Mrs Obama’s
microphone, how amazing was that! As I asked
my question she made me feel so confi dent that I
forgot that there were cameras around the room.
I felt like we were speaking in private - that’s how
comforting she was. She made me forget my
fears. She said that we are all future leaders and
we must start now. I am going to strive for the
best.
When I got home I was greeted with hugs from
my proud parents. I just kept wondering why