Diverse Book Awards 2022 - winners announced!

Congratulations to the winners and runners up of this year’s Diverse Book Awards. The top three YA winners are available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries.

David Olusoga Black History Month Lecture

On Monday 10^th October our A-Level history students attended an online lecture hosted by the University of Manchester. Students listened to the wonderful Professor David Olusoga OBE, award winning writer, historian and broadcaster, discuss his experiences at school and his thoughts on the value of Black History Month. In the lecture he explored what it means to be Black and British, and the role of Black History. 

His book, Black and British: A Short,Essential History, has recently been published
especially for children as a follow-up to his best-selling 2016 exploration of the relationship between Britain and Africa. It presents children with an essential opportunity to study often-overlooked details of British history. There were a wide array of topics discussed in the lecture from the involvement of black soldiers in the Battle of Trafalgar to the Windrush movement. 

Students found the lecture to be a really valuable addition to their studies and it provoked some interesting discussion. The lecture can be viewed at any time following the link below and is suitable for all years from 7-13.

SCHOOLS EVENT: Black History Month lecture delivered by Prof David Olusoga - YouTube

Post written by Ms Rodgerson, Head of History at EPHS.

David Olusoga's Black and British books, Black and British : a Forgotten History and Black and British: A Short, Essential History, are both available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries.

World Mental Health Day 2022

Today, 10th October, is World Mental Health Day. It is an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues and support everyone in protecting and improving their mental health and wellbeing.  This year's theme is 'make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority'.

We have a great selection of books in the library about mental health, so make sure you take some time this World Mental Health Day to invest in your wellbeing and enjoy some selfcare with a good book.  To view the books on our mental health and wellbeing reading list, click here.

The Reading Agency has also produced a recommended reading list for teens as part of their 'read well' collection of books and digital resources.  To view, click here.

National Poetry Day poems

Inspired by the Authors Aloud 'Performance of Poets' event for National Poetry Day, some of Ms Lewis's Year 8 English class had a go creating their own acrostic poems.  Below are some of our favourites:

Gigantic neck as long as its body

In the Savannah is where they live

Really tall so they can reach trees

After the sun comes up

Faster than an elephant

Fatal deaths to occur

Eating leaves off trees

By Evie M

 

Polar bears live in the Arctic

On the crumbled icebergs, the polar bears lay

Lazy animals slipping and sliding

All the polar bears tired from catching prey

Resting fish hiding from their predator

Big polar bears guarding their cubs

Every fish seeking for help

All the polar bears hear a sound in the distance ….

Run!!!

By Ronnie and Laila

 

Such a boring day at school,

Quizzes, questions and tests,

Understanding absolutely nothing.

I would rather be a squirrel,

Really fluffy tail,

Really great climbers,

Energetic and cute!

Luxury lifestyle, wish I was a squirrel

By Micah E

Miraculous and fluffy

Evil but nice

Every animal has a bad side

Rebelling against their siblings

Karate is their game

Animals at day, ninjas at night

Tiny warriors that come out to fight!

By Honey

 

Wiggling around in the dirt

Opposite ends both in control

Rithing around in the soil

Migrating around hiding from birds!

By Lucas J

Work Experience in the EPHS Libraries

We were delighted to provide one of our Year 11 students, Archie, the opportunity to volunteer in the Libraries as part of EPHS's week long work experience programme organised by Ms McIntosh.  Below is Archie's reflection on his experience:

At Eden Park High there is a work experience programme run in Year 11. It offers the children the ability to go off and work somewhere for a week. I chose to work in the school library as it offered a unique experience to see what happens inside the library and to see what sort of work is done behind the scenes to make sure it remains up and running. This sort of work included cataloguing, book maintenance and all sorts of other things that really gave me the opportunity to see how it all works and to experience working in that kind of environment. It was a good place to do my work experience and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Archie.

Ms Peters and I very much enjoyed working with Archie this week, who fitted in well as part of the Library team.

National Poetry Day 2022

Celebrated every year, National Poetry Day is an opportunity to enjoy, share and
discover poems.  This year's theme is 'The Environment'.  Why not take up the call to action to find or write a poem that speaks about something you’d like to change or praise about the environment and share that in your school, community, or on social media?!

We've got a great selection of poetry books and verse novels in the libraries for you to browse and borrow.  Click here to view on OLIVER.

Year 7s may also like to enter the Lost Words National Poetry Day competition - entries must be submitted by your teacher or librarian.  To find out more see the poster below:

The English Department will be celebrating National Poetry Day with a range of activities, including showing 'A Performance of Poets', a pre-recorded session with four poets including the award-winning Dean Atta, and a poetry workshop for KS3 students.

Black History Month 2022 and Convince the Critics competition

October is Black History Month, a time to acknowledge and celebrate the history, achievements, and contributions of black people to the UK.

The Library is celebrating Black History Month by highlighting some amazing Black British poets and writers, including Malorie Blackman, Alex Wheatle, Patrice Lawrence, Benjamin Zephaniah and Adisa the Verbaliser, whose books you can browse and borrow.  Check out the Black History Month reading list on Oliver by clicking here.

We have also launched a Black History Month Convince the Critics competition.

To enter, you must write at least one compelling paragraph, no maximum length, convincing the critics to read the Black History Month book or book by a black author that you have chosen to recommend.  To view the 

The closing date is 1st November and entries should be handed to your Librarians.  Don't forget to include your name and form and the author and title of the book!  

Prizes include a signed copy of the Jeffrey Boayke’s brilliant book Musical Truth: A History of Modern Black Britain in 28 songs.

As a school, EPHS will be holding assemblies, workshops and cultural events up to half term and in the first week back in November.