Carnegie Shadowing Event

On the 13th June a group of Y8 & Y9 students accompanied by Miss Baker and Mrs Locke attended Herefordshire Libraries Carnegie Shadowing Event at the Shirehall in Hereford.

These students and students from other Herefordshire schools have spent the last term reading the 8 books nominated for this prestigious award in children’s literature, discussing the books and ultimately choose which book we think deserves to be awarded the medal. During the event students took part in a quiz on all of the books and debated which book should be the winner in mixed groups from all the schools.

Each school had prepared a short presentation on their nominated book. John Masefield were nominated The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon, a fantastic book about a boy growing up in a refugee detention centre. This year we had beautiful pieces of artwork created by Lauley, Elyse, Rebecca and Millie, a wonderful piece of writing by Morgan and a fantastic performance of music inspired by the book from Lucy, Ella, Eleanor, Izzy, Millie, Rosie and Sophia.

Author Jo Cotterill gave a talk after lunch, Tuesday 13th June was the first “Empathy Day” and she talked about how writing and reading can help you develop your understanding of other people and their feelings, getting the students to take part in some tasks that helped highlight the differences between people and their reactions to the world.

During the lunch break students voted for the book they wanted to win the medal with Ruta Sepetys fantastic book Salt to the Sea coming out top. Salt to the Sea is an inspirational novel based on a true story from the Second World War. When the German ship the Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk in port in early 1945 it had over 9000 civilian refugees, including children, on board. Nearly all were drowned. The style of this book written from four very different perspectives really appealed to the shadowing groups.

If you are looking for some great summer reading, the nominations for this award are a great place to start. You can find more information on these books and the award at http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie

The Library at JMHS would like to thank the Slyvia Short Educational Charity for awarding us with a grant to enable us to attend this event.

The Carnegie Shadowing group are now eagerly awaiting the announcement of the winner on Monday 19h June.

Published on 14th June 2017