Page 12 - Issue No. 80 Summer 2019

10 The Learning Resource Centre

Carnegie Book Awards 2019 – The Year of Poetry.

On Tuesday, 18 June the Learning Resource Centre hosted their annual Carnegie Shadowing
Event. Students were encouraged to read as many of the eight shortlisted books as possible so
they could present their favourite one in an effort to convince others of their brilliance. This year,
three of the eight books were free-verse novels.
Once again students were amazingly creative; we had a movie trailer, comic books, puppet
shows, 3D models, and theatrical re-enactments. We shared some of the students’ work online
and had very positive responses from the authors themselves!
This year we had even more student involvement as two primary school students joined us from
The Erme. Despite coming to the College only a few times before, these two boys bravely
presented their favourites books in front of our 30 students with confidence and charm.
The winners were Lost Words illustrated by Jackie Morris and written by Robert Macfarlane, and
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, both books of poetry. Unlike last year our students were very
happy with the result.
The day was a wonderful success and we hope that more students will be convinced to read
free-verse novels; we definitely think it will be the next big trend.

Visiting Author Andy Briggs Celebrates with Book Quest Heroes

In June, the College celebrated another year of reading achievement with visiting
author, Andy Briggs.
Year 7 students who had taken part in the College’s reading challenge, Book Quest,
were invited to the Learning Resource Centre for an evening to celebrate their
success. Book Quest is a 30 stage reading challenge which includes reading poems,
books set in a different country, classics and Shakespeare.
Andy Briggs is a screenwriter, novelist, and an amazing entertainer. He wowed both
students and parents alike with his descriptions of gorilla smells, drone racing, and spy
skills. Writing books means research, and for Andy this meant exploring the deepest
jungles and climbing live volcanoes; not what you imagine a writer doing. He was
very vocal about how everyone can be a story teller; after all, the songs, games and
TV shows that you may enjoy on a daily basis are all written by someone, so you
don’t have to just read literature to enjoy a good story. Andy said that ideas can
come from anything and lead you anywhere. For example, he was given a drone
for Christmas and from that he has written a brand new action packed book all
about Drone Racing,. Even a little idea can lead to big things, so if you have an idea
bouncing around in your head, let it out and get creative!

The College Echo - Summer 2019 - www.ivybridge.devon.sch.uk