It’s been a pretty arty few months in Bannerman High School. We started a weekly Manga Club where pupils can make new friends through their love of anime and manga – we draw, have colouring sheets, and play “Guess Who?” with manga characters. Manga gets children passionate about reading because the series-format keeps them eager to see what happens next in a story arc; the plot is usually quite complex and intricate which requires a level of attention and memory; the characters are qualitatively rich and the character development is noticeable through the various volumes. This provides young readers with an awareness of literary processes. And, of course, they also start to write their own stories and learn to draw beautifully – which is where our visit from fab illustrator Neil Slorance came in really handy. Neil held a workshop on comics-style drawing that the pupils loved and engaged with even after it was over, coming back at lunch to continue their works and asking for more visits such as this one. Thank you Neil!