Meet the Author - Matt Oldfield

We are delighted that Matt Oldfield, one of the authors of the hugely popular Ultimate Football Heroes and Classic Football Heroes books, will be virtually visiting EPHS this December.  Our Year 8 students will have the opportunity to meet Matt and ask him questions, as well as taking part in a creative writing activity.

We are also offering students the opportunity to win a signed copy of one of Matt's books by submitting their stories from the session!

National Non Fiction November 2020

National Non Fiction November is the Federation of Children’s Book Group yearly celebration of everything factual.  Below are a selection of some of the great new non fiction books available for you to borrow from the EPHS Libraries now!

Costa Book Awards 2020 - shortlists announced

There are five categories in the Costa Book Awards, with the winner from each going forward to compete for the overall winners prize.  The children’s category shortlist is:

• Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant
• The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson
• The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff
• Wranglestone by Darren Charlton

The top two books are available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries, the bottom two are on our wish list!

EPHS Libraries on Instagram

Having taken part in a webinar called Joining Instagram: picture perfect posts over the Summer, we decided to launch our own Instagram account @ephs_library!

Instagram is all about pictures, which is perfect for showcasing our beautiful new books and highlighting some of our lesser-known books, which might get overlooked.  We will also post about author visits, competitions and other activities going on in the Library.  Check it out and let us know what you think!

   

Chris Bradford Creative Writing Competition - closing date extended!

There is still time to enter our fantastic Chris Bradford writing competition - we have extend the deadline for entries until Friday, 27th November.  Don't delay, get your entries to the Library or your English teachers to be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of The Way of the Warrior, the first book in Chris's Young Samurai series!

Chris's Young Samurai books are available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries.  Chris is also offering you the opportunity to buy his books at a discounted price via his online bookshop.  See details below:

Anti-bullying Week 2020

This week is anti-bullying week and the theme this year is United Against Bullying.  EPHS students and staff are taking part in odd socks day today.

Below are some recommended reads that deal with the subject of bullying and offer advice on how to tackle it if it happens to you: 

World Kindness Day 2020

Ahead of Anti-Bullying Week next week, today is World Kindness Day, providing the perfect opportunity to celebrate and promote kindness.

EPHS students have been engaging in random acts of kindness and creating kindness cards all week.  These cards, which were written to anyone in their bubble or a teacher, have been given out today.  This activity has been coordinated by Ms Krause and is something that the students have very much enjoyed doing.

The Library has a brilliant array of books about respect, kindness and celebrating difference, whether you’re looking for graphic novels, fiction or non-fiction, there are lots to choose from!  These include all the books from the Empathy Lab Read for Empathy Collection 2020.  Among our favourites are:

 

Library Competitions

Reading Bingo - we are currently running our Reading Bingo Challenge for all KS3 students. To enter, you simply need to complete a line in any direction, by reading 4 books or, for a full house, by reading 16 books! To receive achievement points and win prizes, you must fill in the challenge sheet and be prepared to talk about the books you have read. Forms are available from the Library

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Chris Bradford Creative Writing Competition for Year 7s - as part of Chris Bradford’s virtual author visits, we have 28 signed copies of his book The Way of the Warrior to give away.  To be in with a chance of winning, you need to write an adventure story set in Japan and featuring samurai and ninja warriors. Entries can be in the form of a short story of no more than 500 words or a Manga style comic strip.  The closing date is 20th November 2020.

Word of the Week - this is our weekly competition, where we ask you to pick a favourite or unusual word. Winners receive achievement points, their name in a frame and a pen!  We are particularly looking for entries from our wonderful Year 10s!

Literary News - Award winners and Adaptations

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been voted the ‘Winner of Winners’ from 25 Years of the Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel Half a Yellow Sun.  Voted for by the public, the novel is set in Nigeria in the 1960s, during the Biafran War.   It is about the end of colonialism, about class and race and how love can complicate things.  This novel, and Chimamanda’s brilliant We Should All Be Feminists essay, is available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries using our click and deliver service.

There are some great book adaptations on TV at the moment, including His Dark Materials series 2 based on Philip Pullman’s outstanding trilogy, which started on BBC 1 last Sunday and Rebecca, based on the book of the same name by Daphne DuMaurier, which is currently screening on Netflix.  These novels are available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries using our click and deliver service.

Independent Bookshops Unite Online - Support Your Local Bookshop!

With Lockdown#2 forcing the closure of bookshops nationwide and threatening the future of independent booksellers, we wanted to highlight a new online bookshop bringing together Independent Book Retailers called Bookshop.org.

Originally set up in the USA to rival Amazon’s online book selling dominance, Bookshop.org allows you to buy directly from your local bookshop at a discounted price.  Why not check it out and support your local independent bookshop!

The EPHS local bookshop is The Beckenham Bookshop, ‘a local bookshop for local book lovers’, and owner Kelly Bradford is passionate about books and proud of her children’s section- she supplied the books for our highly successful Alex Wheatle author visit in January.

Remembrance Day 2020 - Once Upon a Wartime

Armistice Day, also known as Remembrance Day, takes place on 11th November every year, marking the official ending of World War I on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.  A two-minute silence is held to remember the people who have died in wars.  There is also Remembrance Sunday, the second Sunday in November, which fell yesterday, on 8th November.

Eden Park High School will be supporting the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal as usual this year.  A variety of items are being sold at Main Reception as part of the appeal.

Wall display in the EPHS Lower Library

We have a huge variety of war themed fiction and non-fiction in the Library for you to borrow.  Check out the history recommend reading lists and the ‘wartime’ genre section on Oliver for recommendations or ask your Librarians!

Meet the Author - Chris Bradford

We are delighted to announce that the award-winning author, Chris Bradford, will be virtually visiting EPHS Year 7 students on 6^th and 27th November! Chris has written two popular YA book series plus some great Ninja Quick Reads, but this visit will focus on his action-packed Young Samurai series, set in 17^th Century Japan.

As part of this visit, we have a limited number of signed copies of the ‘Way of the Warrior’ to give away as part of our exciting writing competition - details below!: