Take part in our WORD OF THE WEEK feature on Instagram!

Words that make you go WOW!

Yes, Beaumont Library is on Insta! Here's a cunning plan to encourage you to look up and learn unfamiliar words. Just keep an eye out for new and interesting words in whatever you read over the summer hols. Make a note of any new words, where you found them and what they mean. In September, you can hand your suggestions for WORD OF THE WEEK to the library team. If your word is chosen and posted on our Instagram page you will win a prize! We’ll post a new word each week, so you can keep your suggestions coming throughout the school year. Authors often respond on Instagram when you post a word you’ve found in one of their books… very exciting!

Visit our Instagram page beaumontschool.library  #wowbeaumont to see some of our recent WORD OF THE WEEK posts.

Happy word hunting!

Writer Keren David is the cherry on top of the cake.

Beaumont students were lucky enough to meet writer Keren David at the recent Children's Book Award (CBA) Discussion Day at Sir Frederic Osborn School. Keren joined the students to discuss the three shortlisted books and to talk to them about how she became an author.

Keren told us it all began when she was very young. As a child she "read and read and read". At about 8 years of age, Keren was asked at school to draw a picture of what she wanted to be when she grew up. Keren said she wrote "I want to be a lady writer" and drew a picture of a lady with bright red fingernails and red hair, sitting at an old-fashioned typewriter! Keren had to admit that, despite this early determination, becoming a writer "has not been the most straight-forward path".

Keren described her schoolgirl self as "a daydreamer who loved stories". Throughout secondary school, Keren wrote a story in her head, every night before she went to sleep. This story was a dark, gothic murder mystery about someone coming out of a forest with a secret to keep, scared of everyone around him and not knowing who to trust. As a lover of stories and books, Keren's dream was to study English at university but failing two of her A levels meant she couldn't pursue that path. It was at this moment, Keren explained, she had to face failure head-on and make a choice: give in, or show the world what she was capable of? She chose to show the world!

Keren re-took her A levels but instead of going to uni she went to work on a newspaper. Over the years she has been a reporter and a news editor and still works as a journalist today. Journalism suited Keren as she enjoyed interviewing people and telling their stories but deep in her heart she wanted to be a writer of books for young people. This is because she believes that the books you read as a child are the ones that stay with you and shape you as a person. 

To help her with this, Keren did a course on writing for children. She shared with the students some of the things she learned and some advice she would give to budding writers:

• You don't have to have the whole book set out before you start. 
• Have a vague outline but make the story up as you go along.
• Try to write a little each day.
• Don't be too critical and hard on yourself!

Keren has now published nine books for young people. Her first book When I Was Joe was the winner of six awards. Keren introduced us to some of her stories, including her new title Stranger which is based on the forest story she made up in her head as a girl! 

It was a pleasure to spend the day with Keren. The Beaumont students certainly enjoyed meeting her, as you can see from their comments:

"Keren David gave an inspiring speech about her books and the work and thoughts behind them. She even replied to the email I sent her." Alla C. 8S

"The highlight of the Children's Book Award event was meeting Keren David. She talked about all of her books, including her latest one, 'Stranger'. I bought a signed copy and so far it's a page turner. When I finish reading it, I plan to read all her other books." Rita S. 7E

"Keren David told us about her life as a writer and how hard it was to get published. I also bought a signed copy of her book and so far it's amazing, I don't want to stop reading it." Rebecca F. 7E 

"She was definitely the cherry on top of the cake at the 2018 Children’s Book Award event!" Mia S 7R

Visit Keren's website to find out more about her books:

                                                       http://kerendavid.com/

Beaumont students get set to shadow the Carnegie Medal book award

March saw the announcement of the eight books that have made the shortlist for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2018. The Carnegie is considered to be the most prestigious award for writers of fiction for young people. Books nominated for the prize must be of ‘outstanding literary quality’ and are judged on a number of criteria, including style, characterisation and plot. The books must also, of course, offer an enjoyable reading experience and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Over a hundred books were nominated for the award, so the calibre of the shortlisted titles is clear.  The list features an exceptional range of genres and writing styles. The stories they tell are funny, thought-provoking, heart-warming, terrifying and eye-opening. These books will shock, thrill, challenge and inform readers.


As in previous years, Beaumont library will be running a Carnegie ‘shadowing’ group. This involves a number of Year 8 and 9 students who will meet regularly over the coming weeks to read, review and discuss the shortlisted books. The students must commit to reading at least six of the eight books. Alongside schools and ‘shadowers’ from across the country, our group will run its own page on the Carnegie Shadowing Site which it will update with news and reviews:

http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/grouphomepages/index.php?GroupID=11440

Shadowing is a great way to explore and share the books on the shortlist and is supported by a fantastic range of activities on the CILIP website:

http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/ 

The winner of the Carnegie Medal will be announced at a ceremony in London on Monday 18^th June. To celebrate the shortlist, and to await the announcement of the winning book, our shadowing group has been invited to a Carnegie Discussion Day at St Albans Girls’ School on the day of the award. 

The library team has created a short video showcasing the shortlisted books:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jegtUx5RyKw

Beaumont book quizzers pile up the points

Here are the final standings in last term's Accelerated Reader league tables. Our Year 7 and Year 8 students earn book points every time they pass an AR book quiz. Students must score at least 60% to pass a quiz. Each week we tally up how many points each class has earned collectively over the course of the term. At the end of last term, 7E and 8L topped their respective points tables. Congratulations!


It is also very important to point out that the tables celebrate the efforts of all those students who have passed a quiz and added to their form's points total, even if they haven't scored 100%.


Good luck to all Year 7 and Year 8 students with their quizzing in the weeks ahead. Keep an eye on the AR board in the library for a weekly update on how your class is doing!

'Inspirational and full of fun' - Year 7 enjoy meeting Dave Cousins

(Bobble) hats off to writer Dave Cousins for braving the recent heavy snow and freezing temperatures to visit Beaumont and help us celebrate World Book Day 2018. In his wacky and energetic style, Dave spoke to our Year 7 students about his life and the experiences that led to him becoming an author. Dave’s anecdotes took us on a hilarious journey, starting with his childhood dreams of being a footballer/Batman/Neil Armstrong, then onto ‘The Comet’ a football-mad comic he wrote and drew himself aged 11, and from there to his Beatles-inspired decision to form a band. Dave told us it was at this moment he became a writer, using song writing ‘as a way of making sense of everything that was going on around me’.  He also talked about his love of reading and how he feels ‘something magical happens’ when you open a book, allowing you to escape into another world.

When Dave decided to have a go at writing a book, he was also juggling the demands of a family and a full-time job, so he got up at 5am every day to write in his attic. This carried on for seven years until he came upon the idea for 15 Days Without a Head. This was his first book to be published and has now been translated into twelve different languages!  Our students were impressed by Dave’s perseverance and determination to become a writer.  His advice to them all was ‘Don’t give up if you find something you want to be. Be stubborn. If you don’t give it a go, you’ll never know.’

Dave introduced his young adult novels to the students, focusing particularly on the inspiration behind 15 Days Without a Head and Waiting for Gonzo which have been described as ‘teen realism with action, humour and heart’. Both books tackle tough issues affecting young people but do so using gentle humour and great characters. Dave explained that, as an author, it is essential to have an emotional connection with an idea in order to be able to write well about it.  In the case of 15 Days, which is about two young boys trying to keep their family together, the inspiration came from an incident Dave witnessed which deeply affected him and compelled him to write the story.

Dave feels that stories work in a powerful and positive way. In his opinion, ‘everyone has a story to tell’ and that it is by sharing our experiences and tales of our everyday lives that we will learn to understand each other better.

After his talk in the hall, Dave signed copies of his books in the library and then, undeterred by the incoming snow blizzard, spent lunchtime chatting to students from Year 7 Book Club. A big thank you to Dave for spending time with us at Beaumont!

Here are some of the things our students had to say about Dave’s visit:

‘Dave Cousins has inspired me to read a variety of books and to be positive about the future.’ Abzana  7R

‘Dave Cousins spent an astonishing 7 years waiting for his publisher to say one word: yes. You don’t need to wait for a yes to read his books - just go for it!’ Mia 7A

‘Dave Cousins was really funny. His life-story pictures made me laugh a lot.’ Lilia 7L

‘Dave Cousins was excellent fun. I liked it when he told the story of his son diving in the swimming pool. He is a legend.’ Henry 7L

‘I really enjoyed listening to Dave Cousins’ funny and interesting speech. I am so glad we had the opportunity to meet him.’ Rosie 7N

‘I was sad he didn’t have time to read from his book. I really want him to come back.’ Rani 7L

Comedy, craziness and creativity - writer Dave Cousins is coming to Beaumont!

As part of our celebrations for World Book Day 2018, we are thrilled to welcome Dave Cousins back to Beaumont on Friday 2nd March. Dave’s books are described as ‘teen realism with action,humour and heart’. He will talk to our Year 7 students about his books and the inspiration and process behind his writing. His workshop will also focus on showing the students that we all have a story to tell. The session promises to be highly entertaining as Dave’s author events have been likened to ‘stand-up - with books’!

Students will also have the opportunity to meet Dave in the school library, to buy one of his books and have it signed by the author. The following titles will be available:

Waiting for Gonzo

15 Days Without a Head

Charlie Merrick's Misfits - I'm a Nobody. Get Me Out of Here!

The books will be available at the following discounted prices:

£6 for one book, £11 for two books or £15 for three books.

Books can be pre-ordered using the order form available from the school library, or purchased with cash on the day of Dave's visit (2nd March). If pre-ordering, please return the order form and payment to the library by Wednesday 28th February to ensure a copy of the book is available on the day.

For more information on what's in store during Dave's visit, take a look at his website!:

https://www.davecousins.net/schools-events/

Promoting 'The Giver' with pedal power!

Members of staff have been taking to their bicycles during the lunch break to promote our current whole school read The Giver by Lois Lowry. As bicycles play an important part in the story, this is a very apt way to bring the book to the attention of students who have yet to read it. Special mention to Mr Tatham, the only member of staff who was able to 'pop a wheelie'!


To support the whole school read, there is a whole range of activities for students to take part in across the school curriculum, including a book quiz which can be found on our dedicated The Giver Google Classroom (code o9f9p1s).

Events will also include an in-school screening of the movie adaptation of The Giver (popcorn included!) for all those students who have read, reviewed and taken part in one of the activities based on the book. Everyone who reads and reviews The Giver also receives one of our custom-made, exclusive-to-Beaumont button badges featuring, of course, a bicycle!

Accelerated Reader league tables - our autumn winners!

We didn't think we could start the new year without congratulating forms 7A and 8E for finishing top of their respective AR points league tables for the autumn term. AR points are earned every time a student passes an Accelerated Reader book quiz. Every week we tally up the number of points earned collectively by the each form. This is a real team effort and we would like to applaud all those Year 7 and Year 8 students who passed book quizzes last term. Here are the final standings for last term:

Beaumont readers help to launch the St Albans Schools Book Award

At the end of last term, a group of Year 7 and Year 8 Book Club students took part in a fantastic Discussion Day to explore and celebrate the three books shortlisted for the inaugural St Albans Schools Book Award. The event was organised and hosted by the Library at St Columba’s College.

Our students joined keen readers from five other St Albans schools to take part in a series of activities, discussions and quizzes based around the three books in the running for the prize: River of Ink – Genesis by Helen Dennis, A Seven Letter Word by Kim Slater and The Boy at The Top of the Mountain by John Boyne. 

Shortlisted writer Helen Dennis also attended the event and gave an insightful and very amusing talk about her life as an author and the process behind her writing. The students were each asked to vote for their favourite book on the shortlist and at the end of the event A Seven Letter Word was declared the winner of the award. 

It has been a pleasure to take part in the very first St Albans Schools Book Award which we hope will become an annual event. Congratulations to our Book Club members who represented the school so well at the Discussion Day and to all the Beaumont students who read the shortlisted books and made the award such a success.

Here is what Ella (8A) had to say about the event:

‘The book award was really fun. There was a quiz and the winners got chocolate! There was a discussion about the three books and then a vote. My favourite was A Seven Letter Word. Helen Dennis was funny and answered loads of questions. I met people from other schools and really enjoyed it.’

Beaumont students with writer Helen Dennis at the Discussion Day