All posts by Ms Ustun

Competitions

Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

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If you love writing stories and you’re aged 19 or under, why not enter the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition 2013.  Each summer the winners of the best six stories are invited with their families to attend the Branford Boase Award celebration party in London. There they can meet Dame Jacqueline Wilson and the authors shortlisted for the BBA award as well as editors, publishers, agents, and other professionals in this field. Each young winner receives a copy of all of the books shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award and are able to have their books signed. 

All you have to do is finish the story started by Annabel Pitcher, using no more than 1500 words.  Follow this link to her opening paragraph.  Closing date for entries Friday 26th April.

Competitions

North of Nowhere Creative Writing Competition

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If you’re aged 8-13, you can enter the North of Nowhere Creative Writing Competition to write a story of up to 500 words using the opening lines of North or Nowhere by Liz Kessler as your starting point.  You could win a digital camera, £100 worth of books for our school and have your story published on the Guardian Children’s Books website!

Read these top tips by Liz Kessler for some inspiration.

Closing date Thursday 28th March.

Competitions

Poetry competition

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Telling the truth about youth

Are you fed up with the way young people are viewed by society and portrayed in the media?  Now’s the time to have your say.

The challenge is simple:  you must write an original poem expressing your thoughts about perceptions and attitudes towards young people in today’s society.  The competition is open to pupils aged between 11-16.

Click on the icon above to go to the website for more details.  Deadline 29 March 2013

Competitions

Secondary graphic novel competition

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Renaissance Place and Raintree are challenging secondary school students to annotate and illustrate one of the following scenes/chapters in a graphic novel style consisting of no more than 12 panels:

  • Ulysses by James Joyce, Episode 12 “Cyclops”
  • Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Chapter XVI
  • The Tempest by William Shakespeare, Act I, Scene I
  • The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Act II, Part II
Fantastic prizes are available to be won courtesy of Raintree Publishers, including an Amazon Kindle for the winning student, £100 worth of books for the winning school and a set of Shakespeare and classic graphic novels – such as Macbeth and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow .
Entries should be submitted to Mrs Üstün by 25th March 2013.

 

Announcements, Online resources

AR BookFinder

Now you can find out if the book you’re reading at home has an Accelerated Reader quiz. 

Just click on the icon above and get searching.  You can use Advanced Search to search for books by level or topic.  Create your own book list and take it to the library to see if we’ve got any of the books on the shelves.  If we don’t have it in our library, I can add it to our wishlist!

Announcements, Scholastic book club

Book bargains!

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Hello!  I’ve just set up our Scholastic Book Club school group order online. This means you can now order all the books in your Book Clubs leaflet and many more at http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/harlaw-academy and, what’s more, you’ll be able to have your books delivered to school for FREE!

You need to order your books by Friday 15th February 2013. After that date, I’ll confirm that all orders are in and the books will be delivered to school for me to distribute. For every £1 you spend 20p goes back to our school to spend on much-needed books for our library!

Take a look at what’s on offer here http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/harlaw-academy – there are some great bargains with books costing as little as £1.99!  You can also pay with cash or by cheque (made payable to Harlaw Academy).

Best wishes

Mrs A Üstun

Announcements, Competitions

Inspired? Get Writing!

Enjoy writing but need a little bit of inspiration and a goal to get started?

Why not enter this year’s Inspired? Get writing competition?  The National Galleries of Scotland are challenging you to explore their collection of drawings, paintings, prints, sculpture, photography or installation for some inspiration.  You can write in prose or poetry.  Closing date for entries is Friday 18 January 2013.  Get writing!!

Announcements

Literacy Survey

This year our school is taking part in the National Literacy Trust‘s annual survey.

Please take the time to complete the survey by clicking on the logo or address below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Harlaw

Completing the questions should take no more than 25 minutes.  It’s completely anonymous.

Your answers will help us gain a better understanding of what you think about literacy – your own skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and technology use, as well as the importance of these skills to your later life.

The deadline for survey completion is Friday the 14th of December.