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Learning Resource Centre - Book Festival 2022
L E A R N I N G R E S O U R C E S C E N T R E
National Poetry Day
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National Poetry Day was celebrated in the LRC with our popular “Poetry on the Stairs” event. Pupils were invited to perform their favourite poems in front of their peers in the middle of the LRC, with prizes for the best performers. Pupil Librarian, Sid M (10L) organised the event this year, with the support of the Pupil Librarian Team, and he was keen to encourage pupils to deliver performances with passion and emotion. Worthy winner, Jacob M (13MJK), transported us back in time and left us wanting more with a wonderful recital of Robert Bruce’s Address to his Army at Bannockburn by Robert Burns.
Outgoing Poet Laureate, George R (13AC) and Pupil Librarian, Surendra (13SPA) curated a special collection of poetry for a display in the LRC for those who preferred to read rather than perform. The proceedings were concluded with the announcement of the new Poet Laureate, Daniel T, and performances from both the outgoing and newly appointed Laureates. Congratulations to Daniel T and well done to our performance poetry winners and all those who participated with bravery and gusto. This was a wonderful LRC event, with pupils supporting each other and enjoying the beauty of spoken poetry and will surely be a much loved community event for years to come.
Junior Book Club - Black History Month
During the Junior Book Club, they discussed Black and British, a book by David Olusoga for Black History last October. They shared thought-provoking quotes and discussed what they had learnt, suggesting more Black British history needs to be taught in schools. Everyone who had read the book was very enthusiastic about it and recommended it. It was an eye-opener for some of them.
Year of Reading
In January, the school welcomed the new term by launching our 2022 Year of Reading. This initiative was introduced as a focus for our calendar year, to engender a love of reading in our students and wider community. Over the past months, we have introduced a programme of events, activities and projects to help inspire a love of reading. While many of us start the year with a resolution to read more, it can be hard to know how to find the right book. With this in mind, in January we launched our ‘New Year, New Read’ challenge for Key Stage Three, where we asked students to complete a series of reading challenges. They were tasked with rethinking their reading habits by picking up a book by an author they had not encountered, in a genre they had not explored, or in a form they had not been exposed to yet. In our Year of Reading, we are committed to reaching out to our entire school community to encourage a love of reading outside of the school day. To this end, we launched our family reading challenge earlier this year, where families can borrow sets of books from the library to read together at home. We have continued to expand the literary horizons of our school community, with a monthly focus on books by different authors, and monthly titles that tackle the issues that our students and community are passionate about.
"Its encouraged me to read new genres and opens my eyes to different types of writing that I haven’t thought about reading before. It’s fun because it gives you goals to accomplish by the end of the year so you have clear targets, and you can even compete against others to see who can finish their challenges first."
We also relaunched and expanded our Recommended Reads posters across the school, with staff and department recommendations for students. These recommendations were made accessible to students through generous support and donations to the LRC. Thanks to Reuben and Aodhan who donated over 60 books, and to the RSPA, who generously organised the Amazon Wishlist of award-winning fiction and non-fiction so that our students could pick up the books that intrigued them.
B O O K F E S T I V A L 2 0 2 2
Sponsored by the Old Redingensians Association
The School Book Festival aims to encourage the enjoyment of books and reading throughout the whole school. The Festival coincided with World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March. This was our 9th Book Festival, which was kindly funded by the Old Redingensians Association. Book Festival activities included author talks, workshops, competitions, D.E.A.R. and the Scholastic Book Fair.
We sold books worth £478.98. We received a reward of £191.59 in vouchers for new LRC books.
Mark Walden
Mark Walden is one of our most loved authors at Reading School. Inf act, H.I.V.E. is the 2nd most borrowed LRC book this year. All Year 7 and 8 were really excited to meet him on the third day of our Book Festival. Mark focused on his H.I.V.E. series and gave a very interactive talk exploring why it is more exciting to write about villains than good guys. The talks were followed by an exclusive meet and greet session with the LRC Book Club, who each received a free book. The LRC Book Club meets every Tuesday during Junior Lunch and is run by Mrs Jackson.
"I liked this talk because I learnt about where Mark Walden got all his ideas from. It was also very entertaining as Mark also told us about his favourite villains and why he wanted to write about what he writes about." Lawrence T (8E)
Sonia Leong
Sonia has previously visited Reading School and hosted several manga workshops, crash courses in drawing manga characters, as well as a talk for the A-Level Art students, as part of the wider Book Festival. Her workshops were particularly well-received by those who took part. Not only did she stun with her speed drawing but she also enlightened and inspired many of the participants.
"I really enjoyed the talk and workshop because in both I learnt something. I do not read manga regularly so I did not know much about this topic but after Sonia Leong's talk, it has made me want to start drawing some manga figures in my free time for practice and to also read." Sai (7S)
Taran Matharu
Taran Matharu is the author of the Summoner series and the Contender trilogy. The Novice, book one of the Summoner Series is the third most borrowed LRC book this year. Our Year 7 students were excited to meet him during workshops in the LRC on day one of the Book Festival. During the workshops, Taran revealed the simple technique he uses to invent story ideas and explained how this technique was used to create the Summoner Series.
"What I liked about the workshop is the method Taran showed us about making an idea to a book, as it allows us to make a fun story based on our own interests. It can easily get the struggle of making a plot out of the way, and it can easily become the foundation of the story." Adedayo (7C)
Drop Everything and Read
To celebrate World Book Day, the whole school participated in a Drop Everything and Read during lesson 6 on Thursday 3rd of March. During this lesson, the whole school stopped what they are doing, and read. At the end of the lesson, photos were taken and prizes were awarded for the best doughnuts! We would like to thank Mrs Jackson and Mr Singh for taking photos through Book Week. The most creative student photo went to 7C Art.
We are grateful to the Old Redingensians Association for sponsoring Book Week and providing these opportunities to our students.
Book Borrower of the Year 2022
At the end of each academic year, we love to reward our most regular borrowers of books with prizes. The tutor group that borrowed the most books was 7L. They borrowed a total of 2,010 books – smashing the old record of 1480!
Our top book borrower was Callum N (7L), who borrowed a whopping 832 books this year. Prizes were also awarded to Yin-Chuan C (7E), who borrowed 352 fiction books; Rishav R (12RC) and James M (12PS), who both borrowed 19 senior fiction books and Edward Y (7W), who borrowed 28 non-fiction books. Winners were given Amazon gift cards and 7L was awarded a selection of treats.
Our Recommended Reads initiative also took to the airwaves this year with a new season of our Recommended Reads podcast, with students, parents, and staff all featuring to discuss their favourite books and top recommendations. From this September we hope that the podcast will become entirely student-led, as a podcasting elective. This year saw Year 7 and 8 students transform the format of the podcast. The LRC has, as always, served as a hub for activities for our Year of Reading, hosting book quizzes, The Reading School Book Award, Book Club, and, for the first time, The National Reading Champions Quiz. Through the generous funding received from the Old Redingensians, Year 7 and 8 were also allowed to participate in Book Buzz this year, a reading programme from Book Trust that aims to help schools inspire a love of reading. The Old Redingensians also generously funded our annual Book Week – a real highlight in our Year of Reading calendar. The week saw our Scholastic Book Fair, and a programme of incredible author talks including a workshop with Taran Matharu, Mark Walden, Alex Baker, and a talk and workshop with manga artist Sonia Leong. A Year 8 student commented, “It was very interesting and engaging. It was very exciting to see such a famous author!”.
Throughout the year, the connection between student reading and writing has been growing stronger and stronger. Over the year, our Poet Laureate, Dan T, penned a variety of exceptional poems, exposing his readership to a variety of poetic forms and themes. We were also delighted to end the first half of our Year of Reading with a new creative writing magazine inspired by a love of reading. Our newly formed creative writing club, The Wordsmiths Guild, wrote and produced an imaginative and impressive creative writing magazine, The Wordsmith’s Gazette, inspired by recent reading and an LRC workshop with school Writer in Residence Will Burns.
Be the Difference
Building for the Future- 365 Campaign
The Building for the Future Fund was established to support our academic, pastoral and cocurricular provisions as well as meet immediate refurbishment requirements. Donations to the Building for the Future Fund help the school to provide opportunities that enable our students to extend their aspirations, skills and range of interests beyond the classroom whilst helping to create a challenging and engaging experience for all our students.
We believe that every child deserves to reach their full potential and we strive to offer exceptional opportunities in academics, arts, drama, music, sports, CCF and electives, allowing our students to stretch themselves. Creating a diverse and inclusive community that enriches our shared experience and sense of belonging.
Have you been meaning to contribute but have not had the opportunity yet?
Every contribution you make to Reading School makes a significant difference to our pupils. Reading School will be 900 years old in 2025. We are proud of our traditions and rich history as an outstanding school. Any gift, large or small, is hugely appreciated. We welcome regular donations providing Reading School with the additional assurance of security and forward planning for the future.
