Beaumont quizzers fill the AR board!

 

With five weeks of the term still to go, the Accelerated Reader display board is already completely covered with stars! Stars are awarded to Year 7 and 8 students when they score 100% on an AR book quiz. This term has seen some very accurate quizzing, as you can tell by looking at the board. If students score 100% on five quizzes they receive a silver star, and a gold star for 100% on ten quizzes. So far this term, we have awarded an amazing 32 silver and 15 gold stars. Congratulations to the following students who have achieved silver or gold stars this week:

 

Silver: Hannah Robinson (7E) Peter Laanest (7L) Joseph Shewfelt (7L) Maria Yakovleva (7R) Alice Jenkins (8L) Katie Penn (8N) Tia Hall (8R)

 

Gold: Nicolas Berman (7A) Lilia Prowse (7E) Molly Sandford Smith (7L) Sahar Hodgson (7R) Rosie Fletcher (8E) Paris Hall (8S)



 

Remember also, all students who score 60% or more on a quiz earn AR points towards their form's total. At the end of this term there will be a prize for the forms that finish at the top of the Year 7 and Year 8 league tables. We update the tables each week; here are the current standings:

 

 

It's very tight at the top of the Year 8 table, with the lead changing weekly...watch this space!

 

'Very inspirational' - Beaumont Book Club meets Tamsyn Murray

Beaumont Year 7 Book Club met writer Tamsyn Murray during her recent visit. Here are some of the questions they asked:

Why did you want to be an author?
Because I loved reading so much I decided I wanted to write my own book, to see if I could do it. I think if you're a good reader you're halfway there.
 
Did you expect your first book to be published?
I hoped so but wasn't sure. I wrote My So-Called Afterlife in six weeks in 2008. It's about a girl ghost who haunts a boys' toilets in Carnaby Street. I thought  a boys' toilet was the worst place to spend eternity! It was the easiest book I've ever written.

Where do you get the inspiration for your characters?
Partly from me, for example, my sense of humour; also friends and family, everyone I meet really. Cassidy in my Completely Cassidy series is 40% me and 60% my daughter.

After writing funny books, why did you write Instructions for a Second-hand Heart?
My stories just come to me and it was a nice challenge to do something different. It was inspired by a blog post about a mother giving up her son's heart for donation. This book took much longer to write; I did lots of medical research on organ donation and also spoke to the Samaritans. It took two years and lots of crying to do the first draft and four years altogether to write the book. I'm very proud of it.

What do you want your readers to feel when they read the book?
I think I want tears, or I haven't done my job properly. I want readers to live for the characters and feel what they're going through but I also want them to feel uplifted. It's not a book about death but about learning to live. It's a hopeful book so I want readers to smile too.

How did you feel when you wrote the last chapter?
Mixed emotions. I was relieved, because it had taken so long. I found the characters wouldn't leave me alone. The book is important to me.
 
Will you do a sequel to Instructions for a Second-hand Heart?
No, this is a stand-alone book.

Of all the books you've written, which is your favourite?
That's hard! I think Instructions for a Second-hand Heart because I put so much of myself into it and I love the characters.

Have you met any other authors?
I already know lots of authors, such as Sarah Crossan. I have met JK Rowling, who was lovely! If I could meet authors from the past I would like to meet Jane Austen and Agatha Christie.

What is you favourite Harry Potter book?
The Half-Blood Prince.

What profession would you choose if you weren't a writer?
A singer!

Thank you, Tamsyn, for a look inside the world of a writer!

AR league tables and more amazing quizzing!

Well done to all the students who took an AR quiz last week. It was also a rich week for silver and gold stars. A special mention goes to Millie Sweetman (7L) who has scored 100% on 25 AR quizzes, earning her a second gold star: the first double gold quizzer so far this term! 

Silver

Leila Macpherson 7L

Molly Sandford Smith 7L

Joseph Jason 8A

Francesca Rich 8S

Gold

Ella Neal 7A

Amelia Oliver 7A

Sophie Austin 7E

Hannah Robinson 7E

Millie Sweetman 7L 

Discussing affairs of the heart with writer Tamsyn Murray

How do you face up to a future you didn't think you were going to have?

This is the question facing the two main characters in Tamsyn Murray's new young adult novel Instructions For a Second-hand Heart. Tamsyn introduced Year 7 students to the book during her visit to Beaumont last week. At the centre of the story is the issue of organ donation, a subject about which Tamsyn spoke passionately. The book's dual narrators are Niamh, whose family decides to donate her twin brother's heart when he dies in an accident; and Jonny, the boy who receives Leo's heart. The book is about loss and grief, but is equally about family, friendship, hope and learning to live when you are given a second chance at life.

During her talk in the hall, Tamsyn spoke about the inspiration behind the story and about the four years of work, research and tears involved in writing the book. Then, to set the scene for the students, Tamsyn read out a chapter from the book. A palpable sense of tension built in the hall as Tamsyn read on and the tragic events of the chapter unfolded. By the end of the reading, the audience was listening with bated breath and, as Tamsyn reached the final sentence, there were gasps from the students: 'He lies unmoving. I watch red blossom against the grey-black boulder where his head rests. And somewhere, somebody starts to scream'.

Tamsyn's powerful storytelling captured the students, many of whom came to the library immediately after the talk to meet the author and buy a copy of the book. Tamsyn spent a busy break-time signing books, and took the time to talk to students while writing a personal dedication in each copy. 

Tamsyn rounded off her visit by meeting members of the Year 7 Book Club, answering their questions and chatting about her work, her life as a writer and her love of reading. A huge thank you to Tamsyn for visiting Beaumont and for sharing her experiences and her amazing new book with us. 

Instructions For a Second-hand Heart is available from the Beaumont library, alongside Tamsyn's Complete Cassidy and My So-Called series.

This week's AR league tables - the scores are in

Well done to all students who have taken an AR book quiz this week. Quizzers across Year 7 and Year 8 have earned just under 2000 AR points since we updated the league tables two weeks ago. The following students have been awarded a silver or gold star on the AR display board this week:

Silver

Ella Neal 7A

Sophie Austin 7E

Lilia Prowse 7E

Millie Sweetman 7L

Eleonor Huntley 8A

Flo Raeyen 8N

Paris Hall 8S

Gold

Tia Hall 8R

Thrilling and enthralling - scaling the heights with writer Matt Dickinson

Beaumont pupils were treated to a fascinating, first-hand account of an Everest ascent when writer, film-maker, climber and adventurer Matt Dickinson visited us last week. Matt summitted Everest in 1996 and has used his climbing experiences as the inspiration for his series of young adult books The Everest Files.

Addressing Year 7 and 8 students in the hall, Matt promised to take us on an adventure up the deadly North Face of Everest, a trip from which we would 'hopefully come back alive'! Matt describes Everest as 'an alien world where humans don't belong'. His story-telling, breath-taking photos and video footage brought gasps from the audience.

Matt took us deep into this world where the glacial ice 'creaks, grinds, groans and shatters'. He told stories of his journey through 'The Death Zone', of crevasses 300m deep, of crumbling blocks of ice the size of buildings, of fingers frozen as solid as fish fingers and of 250 exploding bars of Toffee Crisp!

We learned some mind-blowing facts: did you know that Mount Everest is still rising, pushing up at the same speed that that our fingernails grow? Or that, at minus 72 degrees Fahrenheit, a hot cup of tea thrown into the air will freeze immediately and disappear into a cloud of frozen particles? Or that over 150 climbers have not made it back down from Mount Everest and remain frozen where they died?

Matt's enthusiasm for climbing and travel is inspiring. He is heading back to Everest next year to attempt an ascent via the South Face. Matt encouraged our students to 'think adventurously' in life and also to 'think of books in a positive way'. After all,it was by reading a book on mountaineering as a boy that Matt first got hooked on the idea of climbing...and look where that has taken him.

Matt Dickinson's books are exciting, fast-paced, full-of-action thrillers. A wide selection are available from the Beaumont library, including Matt's latest book Lie Kill Walk Away.

Why not follow Matt online at www.everestfiles.com/ or on Twitter: @Dickinson_Matt

Another golden week in the library

Two more of our Year 7 students have achieved gold stars this week for scoring 100% in ten AR quizzes so far this term. Congratulations to Millie Sweetman (7L) and Elliot Coates (7N). Well done also to Sahar Hodgson (7R) and Rosie Fletcher (8E) who have been awarded silver stars. Hats off to all students who have taken quizzes this week. Remember, any score of 60% or more will earn points for your form's total. Here are the latest standings: