Friday 30 July 2021

Holly Smale, Elle McNicoll and Abigail Balfe in Conversation - Waterstones Online Event in August

Award-winning authors Holly Smale and Elle McNicoll, and illustrator Abigail Balfe will be talking to BBC Disability Ambassador and TV Presenter, Cerrie Burnell about disability representation in YA and children's fiction and how being autistic has influenced their writing.

The event takes place online on Thursday 12th August at 7.30pm and general admission tickets are £5.  You can also purchase a book by one of the three as part of you ticket for £11.  For more information visit the Waterstones website.

The Geek Girl series by Holly Smale and A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll are available to borrow from the Lower Library and Abigail's book is on our wish list.


 

Diverse Book Awards 2021 - long list announced

Created by The Author School, the Diverse Book Awards highlight the best of diverse voices, novels featuring Black, Asian, Latin American and/or inclusive main characters, published in the UK during 2020.

The Awards are divided into three categories, children's, Young Adult and Adult, with ten books longlisted per category.  The books nominated in the Children's and YA categories, many of which are available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries, are:

Children:

A Secret of Birds & Bone by Kiran Millwood Hargrave 

Baller Boys by Venessa Taylor, illustrated by Kenneth Ghann 

Clean Up by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola, Nathan Bryon 

Do You Know Me? by Rebecca Westcott, Libby Scott 

Dragon Mountain by Katie & Kevin Tsang 

Little Badman and the Time-Travelling Teacher of Doom by Humza Arshad and Henry White, illustrated by Aleksei Bitskoff 

Nothing Ever Happens Here by Sarah Hagger-Holt 

Too Small Tola by Atinuke, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu 

Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah 

Zombierella: Fairy Tales Gone Bad by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Freya Hartas 

Young Adult:

And The Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando 

Boy, Everywhere by A. M. Dassu 

Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatle 

Crown of Crowns by Clara Loveman

Eight Pieces of Silva by Patrice Lawrence

Hideous Beauty by William Hussey

Hijab and Red Lipstick by Yousra Imran 

Love Frankie by Jacqueline Wilson 

Run, Rebel by Manjeet Mann 

Wonderland by Juno Dawson 

The shortlist will be announced on 20th September 2021.

Holiday Mental Wellbeing Reset

Nicola Morgan, the teenage brain woman, offers some excellent advice for families on how to rest and recuperate over the Summer Holidays.

First, give yourself space and time and opportunity to flop then, make a list of what you would like to achieve - you might like to pledge to read for pleasure.  Enjoy healthy screen use and do an audit of your table of wellbeing - what needs a boost?  Click here to read the full article.

© Katherine Lynas 2019

Books by Nicola Morgan, available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries

Thursday 22 July 2021

Match the Teacher to the Book Competition - winners announced!

Congratulations to all those who correctly identified the teacher with the book in our ‘Match the Teacher to the Book’ competition. The correct answers were:


Although many of you came close, in the end there were just two winners, Tommy-Lee and Olivia C in Year 9.  They will receive their prizes when we return to school in September. 
   
Very well done to everyone who entered - achievements points have been awarded for taking part! Thank you to our teachers too for being such good sports!

Wednesday 14 July 2021

EPHS PTA Book Donation Scheme - update

Throughout the pandemic, our parents have continued to respond generously to the EPHS PTA appeal for book donations for the KS4/KS5 Library via the Amazon wish list.  To date, we have received a fantastic 220 books and would like to say a very big thank you once again for your generous support of the school libraries!

All the books received so far have now been processed and catalogued and are available for the students to borrow ahead of the Upper School Library opening, although they may require a parental note of permission to do so.  

For information about donating a book to the school library, please click here.













Monday 12 July 2021

Summer Reading 2021

The long summer holiday provides the perfect opportunity to relax with a good book or two.  

Not sure what to choose?  Take a look at our suggested Summer Reading list - all the books are available to borrow from the school library.

Research from the National Literacy Trust on wellbeing and reading has shown that reading is most successful when you choose what to read.  There are lots of great book recommendation websites out there (you will find links on this blog).  One of our favourites is LoveReading4Kids - check out their summer reading list by clicking here.

It’s really important to develop a reading habit so set aside time every day to read - maybe just 15 mins to begin with.  And remember, if you don’t enjoy reading at the moment it’s just that you haven’t found the right book yet!

Friday 9 July 2021

Match the Teacher to the Book competition

On Tuesday we launched our latest Library competition, ‘Match the Teacher to the Book’. 

To enter, simply print off the entry form (or pick one up from the Library) and link the teacher with the book you think they are reading.  Don't forget that you can ask the featured teachers for clues!

Please remember to include your full name and your form on your entry.  You can only enter once.

The closing date is Tuesday, 13th July and there will be prizes for correct entries.  Good Luck!

Monday 5 July 2021

Book News - roundup


The best book for younger readers and overall winner is A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll, with Wranglestone by Darren Charlton winning the best book for older readers category.  Both books are available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries.

Book Trust 100 Best Books of the last 100 years


There are some great books on this list, many of which are available to borrow from the EPHS Lower Library.  Click on the link above to view.

SLA Information Book Awards 2021 - shortlist announced

Now in their eleventh year, the awards celebrate and highlight the importance of great children's information books. The winner will be announced in a virtual ceremony in November 2021.



Inspired by the British Library exhibition, Harry Potter: A History of Magic, JK Rowling has written four new Harry Potter books.  They are companion books exploring the folklore and magic that Harry and his friends studied at Hogwarts and are available as e-books.  To find out more visit the Pottermore website.

You are able borrow the Harry Potter series from the EPHS Libraries. 

Friday 2 July 2021

Culture and Diversity Day

 It's culture and diversity day today


Today we're celebrating culture and diversity day. The aim is to celebrate culture and diversity as a whole school community, embrace our differences and increase understanding. There are all sorts of events taking place from a poetry slam to face painting.

Reading is a great way to learn about the experiences of other people, we have lots of reading lists celebrating diversity for you to check out such as the reading for empathy list, the LGBTQ+ reading list and the fighting racism list.

If you're looking for some recommendations, the book stack bellow shows some of the things Mrs Nolan and Ms Peters have been reading during pride month.


Welcome back!

Welcome to 2024 ! Hope you had a good break and enjoyed some brilliant books.  For those of you who need some encouragement, there are some ...