In November a reading challenge was running in the library. The challenge was to read three war themed books during the month. There were many books to choose from both fiction and non-fiction. The challenge has now finished and victory medals were presented during celebration assembly on Friday. Congratulations to everyone who completed the challenge and thank you to everyone who took part.

Summer Reading Challenge

Well done to all of the children who completed the reading challenge during the long summer holiday. Medals and certificates were awarded during celebration assembly this morning. The number of children from our school that completed the challenge this year has doubled in comparison to last year. Hopefully there will be even more next summer. Congratulations to everyone.

Josh Lacey

Josh Lacey is our author of the term. He was born in London in 1968 and has lived in the city most of his life. He loves books and spent the majority of his childhood immersed in them, diapppearing down rabbit holes, into wardrobes, exploring unknown countries and far away galaxies. In fact anywhere your imagination could take you. He mainly writes storeis for children however in the past he has been a journalist, teacher and screenwriter. The title of his first book is called 'A Dog Called Grk'. It is about a boy called Timothy who finds a lost dog on his way home from school. The Grk series of books are set in different countries around the world - from New York to Rio De Janeiro, India to Italy. Follow Timothy and Grk on  their adventures. For more information go to the website joshlacey.com.

Summer Reading Challenge

As the school year comes to an end please bear in mind that children can take part in the summer reading challenge which is being held in all libraries across the borough. This year's theme is 'mischief makers' and celebrates 80 years of the comic, The Beano. There is treasure buried somewhere in Beano Town and it is your challenge to try to find out where. Clues will be given as the children make their way through their reading challenge. As in previous years six books will need to be read and reviewed during the holidays and gifts will also be given along the way. Each child that  successfully completes the challenge will receive a gold medal and certificate in assembly during October.
Once again Havering had the highest completion rate of all London Boroughs let's try to continue this amazing achievement and committment to reading.
This is a fun, free activity for children to take part in during the school holiday and also helps to maintain their reading levels ready for their return to school in September.
For more information use the internet and type mischief-makers.org.uk in the search bar.

Happy holidays and enjoy your reading because 'everything changes when we read'

Mrs Martin

David Walliams Week

This week is an opportunity to celebrate the books that David has written. All of them have been popular when published, they are hugely entertaining, hiliarious and great fun. We have all of them in school and they are available to borrow from the public library over the school holidays. Why not take a look at your local public library to see what they have?

As you would expect there is also a fanastic web site to explore, www.worldofdavidwalliams.com. There are clips of audio books read by David himself, crosswords, games, quizzes and much, much more.

Library Books

The end of the school year is rapidly approaching, all library books need to be returned next week. A list has been given to each class teacher if you are unsure what book you have or alternatively come into the library to see me. Unfortunately if a book has been lost a contribution of £2.50 will need to be paid into your Squid account help meet the cost of a replacement. No further books will be loaned before the end of term.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Mrs Martin

World Cup 2018

The football world cup begins on Thursday 14th June with the home team Russia playing Saudi Arabia in the opening match. England are in group G along with Belgium, Panama an Tunisia. Their first match is on Monday 18th June in Volgograd.

The author, Tom Palmer, will be writing a thrilling neew book based on the tournament. The first chapter is available to read on 14th June, subsequent chapters will be written based on the events on and off the pitch. Each chapter will be availble to read by 7am. We will be following the story as it unfolds in school.

There are also numerous football themed books for you to borrow from the library. Come and have a look or just ask me.

Cressida Cowell

CRESSIDA COWELL

Cressida was born in London in 1966. She spent a great deal of her time with her family in London and on an uninhabited Scottish Island. The island was very windy and stormy. It did not have any roads, shops, houses or electricity. Without electricity there was no television, telephones or computers either. The family built a house from local stone and used candles for light. As there was not much else to do Cressida would draw and write stories. Her Dad would tell her tales about dragons that used to live on the island and Vikings that invaded it. These tales undoubtedly gave her the ideas for her book series ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ which she began to write in 2002. There are now twelve books, the third film is due to be released in 2019. Cressida is also the author of the Emily Brown books which have won multiple awards.

For more information about Cressida visit her website, www.cressidacowell.co.uk

World Book Day

Our adventure through the wardrobe and into Narnia is over, the children had an amazing week, even though  it was disrupted by the snow. Many children entered into the spirit of World Book Day and dressed up as characters from The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. It was fantastic to see. The competition was once again very well supported and the winning children were able to choose their prizes from the book fayre. Thank you to all the parents, adults and children who visited the book fayre your support is appreciated. Don't forget if you haven't used your World Book Day voucher you can still use it in bookshops and selected supermarkets until 25th March.

World Book Day

World Book Day 2018 

It's an exciting week this week in school, we are visiting Narnia and we even have the snow to make it feel really authentic. The themed week is being held to coincide with World Book Day, which is on Thursday 1st March. This is a special day when authors, adults and children celebrate books and the love of reading. As usual there are 10 books written and published by well known authors which cost £1 each. They are only available from bookshops and selected supermarkets. You can exchange your World Book Day token for one of these books, which effectively means that it is free.
For more information, inspiration, games and videos go to www.worldbookday.com.

The book fayre will be arriving in school next week on Thursday 8th March. It will be open until 4pm on Thursday 8th, Friday 9th and Monday 12th March. It will be located in the junior hall. If you decide not to use your World Book Day token at the shops you can use it to get a £1 discount off the price of a book. Come and have a look at the selection on offer.

Everything Changes When We Read.

 

London Children's Book Swap

Havering is taking part in the London Children's Book Swap Event for the first time this year. It is a fantastic opportunity to share your pre-loved books and stories and swap them for different ones. You may even discover a new favourite.It is being held at Hornchurch Library on Saturday 10th February 10.30 - 2pm.

JK Rowling

JK Rowling is the author of probably the most successful series of books that have appealed to both children and adults – Harry Potter. There are seven books which have enthralled and captured the imagination of millions as well as eight films. There is even a theatre show in the West End called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. What do you know about JK Rowling?

Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born near Bristol in July 1965. Her father was an aircraft engineer and her mother a chemistry technician in the local secondary school.

Unsurprisingly she loved reading and wrote her first book when she was only 6 years old, it was called Rabbit. When she was 11 she wrote a story about seven cursed diamonds and the people who owned them. She would spend every spare moment reading and writing notes for story ideas.

She went to Exeter University and studied French and Classics. Part of her course involved her living in Paris which she describes as ‘one of her favourite places on earth.’

After finishing her course she moved to Portugal to teach English as a foreign language where she met and married her future husband. They had a daughter in 1993. Unfortunately the marriage did not last and Jo came back to the UK and chose to live in Edinburgh. She carried on teaching and sent the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone to many publishers. One of them responded and the rest is history.

Jo also writes books under another name, Robert Galbraith, they are crime novels for adults featuring a private detective.

In 2001 she married again and had a daughter and son. She continues to live in Scotland.