There’s a lot in the news at the moment about refugees and plenty of politicians queuing up to give their opinions but what do you think and how can you be informed?
Fiction can often give us an emotional insight into the lives of others and I suggest taking a look at the following three books.
The Journey by Francesca Sanna,
The Island by Armin Greder,
and
Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird.

The first two books are heavily illustrated using very different styles.
The Journey uses a broad strong palette and unpretentious yet thought provoking images- the symbolism of the animals and the simple language “ We don’t want to leave but our mother tells us it will be a great adventure”. Indeed, on first reading one might think this is a picture book for younger readers ( which of course with guidance it certainly can be used this way) but on completion you realise that the story is not one of a single family but of many families in the most dire of circumstances.
The Island by Armin Greder is grey, very grey – no bright animals or pretty landscapes here; just people and an island and a stranger.
How do we treat those who seek our help and what do our reactions say about us? The Island was my book on the desk for a week and lots of pupils picked it up and commented – many felt moved by the images and the word “powerful” was used time and again in their reviews”.

A longer read is Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird, an author who time and time again picks social issues that we need to know about as the focus of her fiction.
Imagine being 12 and living in Syria when the bombs start to drop. You aren’t political, you didn’t start this but it’s you caught in the middle and it’s your life in danger. The simple sub heading of the novel says it all – “Where do you go if you can’t go home?”
Why not pop in to the library and pick up a copy of any of these titles and let me know what you think.

If you have an idea for a theme you would like explored through fiction or you would like to add your own comments or ideas just let me know,
Mrs B

The new comics/graphic novels and manga club will start on 27 Jan 2017.

Mrs Baird wonders what chocolate bar goes best with destroying villains?

Our first job will be to create Superhero card and check out three web sites:
https://comicsclub.blog/ and brand new site all about comics who just happen to be looking for pupils’ input.
I also want you to look at both Excelsior sites:
http://www.excelsioraward.co.uk/ and
http://www.excelsiorawardjunior.co.uk/
All ages and stages are welcome you only have to look comics to join in the fun.

There may also be a tiny special guest star coming along.
Readers assemble!

For a number of years with the support of History/Mods department we have jointly been running a project to get more pupils reading and thinking about their social subjects.
This manifested itself into the first pass scheme where pupils would read, rate and review fiction and non-fiction relating to their subjects.
Due to the changes made by the local authority to school librarians meaning that I am only at St.Ninian’s 50% of the time I did not want this scheme to fall by the wayside.
In consultation with the wonderful Ms Scroggie we decided to go down the class library route in supporting pupils achieving their First Pass.

This has proved a continuing success in allowing pupils to read and enjoy fiction chosen by me suitable for their age range and appropriate to their areas of study.
As Christmas approaches both Ms Scroggie and I wanted to evaluate the strengths and tackle the weaknesses of the scheme; therefore I will be heading all the way upstairs to Hist/Mods to speak to pupils about what they have and have not enjoyed about the scheme.

I am looking forwards to hearing suggestions from the pupils and to hear which titles have most caught their imagination.
New and relevant titles are coming out all the time and I plan to swap over the class libraries with a refreshed selection; including works by Alex Wheatle (the Brixton Bard), Cathy MacPhail (the Greenock Guru) and congressman John Lewis.