Author Archives: Anais Cayzac

Happy empathy day!

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On the 6th of June, we celebrated Empathy Day in St Mungo’s school library with great enthusiasm. Pupils worked together to create a remarkable Empathy Display, featuring their colorful artwork and thoughtful messages that highlighted the importance of empathy.
As part of the celebration, pupils made Emotion Maps, which creatively depicted various feelings and experiences. This activity encouraged self-expression and fostered a deeper understanding among peers.
In the library, pupils also hid character bookmarks throughout the shelves, inviting others to discover and share new stories. Each bookmark was a hidden gem, promoting conversations and connections among readers.
Additionally, we introduced an Empathy Bookshelf, filled with books that inspire empathy and kindness. This special collection now serves as a resource for pupils seeking to explore stories that open hearts and minds.
Empathy Day was a successful event that emphasized the power of empathy in building connections and understanding within our school community.

Short stories book by the Storytelling club

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Since the beginning of the year, members of the Storytelling for Wellbeing Club have created over 25 incredible stories.
Throughout the year, they created stories with the help of creative prompts, engaging board games, evocative pictures, and various arts and crafts activities. These tools sparked their imaginations and fuelled their creativity, resulting in a diverse collection of unique tales.
Now, they are excitedly compiling these stories into their very own storybook! Pupils are enthusiastically arranging the chapters, ensuring a smooth flow from one story to the next, and creating beautiful illustrations to bring the book to life. Additionally, they are recording the stories and generating QR codes to include in the book. This innovative feature allows readers to scan the codes and listen to the stories, providing an enriching audiobook experience.
The pupils’ hard work and creativity are truly shining through in this wonderful project!

P7 transition day @St Mungo’s library

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St. Mungo’s Academy recently organized an Olympic Games sports day for our upcoming S1 pupils.

The P7 pupils were divided into groups, allowing them to enjoy a day filled with sports and fun while also exploring the various departments within the school. This event provided a great opportunity for them to familiarize themselves with the school’s environment and offerings.

Our current BGE pupils played a significant role in preparing for the event by readying the library. They showcased their creativity and research skills by designing an impressive Olympic Games display. This display featured renowned athletes, as well as books and movies about the Olympic Games, adding an educational dimension to the sports day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the day of the event, the library hosted a yoga session. The session began with a brief introduction to the library, followed by a discussion on the similarities between reading and yoga. The pupils shared insightful thoughts, noting that both reading and yoga are:

– Relaxing
– Stress-relieving
– Stimulating for creativity and imagination
– Helpful for focus
– Promoters of awareness
– Influential on emotions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following the discussion, the pupils enjoyed a yoga memory game and participated in animal yoga poses, adding a playful element to the session. This combination of physical activity and intellectual engagement made for a well-rounded and enjoyable day for all participants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This event was also beneficial for the library, as it highlighted the library’s role as a versatile space for both educational and recreational activities, encouraging more pupils to utilize its resources and see it as an integral part of their school experience.

Libraries LYT up lives: Graeme Armstrong @St Mungos

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The “Libraries LYT up lives” program concluded with a remarkable visit from writer Graeme Armstrong to our school library on April 22nd. Armstrong shared powerful firsthand stories about overcoming gang culture, highlighting the transformative power of literature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the presentation, students had the opportunity to engage directly with the writer and even borrow his book. Such was the demand that all copies of his books available in the library were swiftly taken, necessitating the creation of a waiting list. This clear demonstration of interest underscores the profound impact of his session on our S3 pupils.

They were captivated throughout, rating the event a resounding 10/10!

The Young Team Novel to Be Adapted By Synchronicity Films

 

New library “well being corner”

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The back of St Mungo’s library is a quiet study area.

Recently, a health and well being corner was added for pupils to colour, play chess, or complete a jigsaw puzzle. This relaxation space, available during stressful times like exam periods, is known as the Well Being corner. It features comfortable seating and a “mindful table” with activities such as a giant mindful colouring sheet with pencils, crossword books, word search books, and a jigsaw puzzle.

To boost pupils’ concentration, heighten awareness, broaden memory, and foster teamwork, the library offers a giant Sudoku. To assist pupils in expanding their vocabulary and improving word spelling, the library provides a Boggle game for everyone’s enjoyment.

Additionally, the library maintains a current “shelf help” collection, offering books on a wide range of mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and life pressures like bullying and exams.

The Library Young Team- Alan Bissett @St Mungo’s

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As a part of the The Library Young Team project, the second session was led by author Alan Bissett.

 

He engaged with a group of S3 pupils, involving them in a discussion about toxic masculinity, lad culture, and consent. Drawing from his latest book, “Lads: a Guide to Respect and Consent,” as well as his collaboration with Police Scotland’s campaign, “Don’t Be That Guy,” Alan Bissett talked to young boys about understanding women’s safety issues and offering guidance on respectful behaviour towards girls and women.

 

 

He also addressed how societal expectations and gender roles can create barriers that hinder young men from discussing their emotions and mental health, potentially leading to harmful outcomes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His intervention was empowering, not accusatory or preachy, aiming to help boys navigate their teen years into adulthood with informed choices.

World Book Day @ St Mungo’s library!

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This year, the English department and the library decided to celebrate World Book Day over a week, from the 4th of March to the 8th of March. Many activities were planned in the library for everyone to enjoy, such as quizzes, a door dress-up competition, book giveaways, book tastings, and even cool stories to listen to at lunch time!

However, the highlight of this year’s celebration was undoubtedly the “book tastings.” Pupils from S1 English classes were cordially invited to the transformed library, now resembling a charming French café. Here, they were encouraged to explore and “taste” various literary genres, opening doors to new worlds and expanding their literary horizons. It was like taking a bite out of a new adventure with every page turned!

The Library Young Team- Libraries LYT up lives!

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St Mungo’s Academy library is a part of a wider library project called “The Library Young Team- Libraries LYT up lives!”

brian conaghan at the school assembly

 

 

This project runs concurrently in 10 secondary school libraries across Glasgow and Renfrewshire, with each school hosting 3 author sessions for S3-5 pupils. These sessions emphasize the advantages of reading, inspire teenagers to find connections between their experiences and the books they read, and assist them in navigating their thoughts, emotions, and feelings. The author sessions will delve into themes that resonate with their daily lives, ensuring relevance and engagement.

The three authors, Graeme Armstrong, Brian Conaghan, and Alan Bissett, serve as positive male reading role models. Their books delve into gang culture, covering topics such as reputation, respect, and retaliation. The sessions will focus on harm reduction by exploring the reasons why young people join gangs, including the desire for acceptance, protection, a sense of identity, and feelings of belonging.

St. Mungo’s Library had the privilege of hosting Brian Conaghan on the 21st of February. His work primarily focuses on the lives and relationships of working-class teens, as well as characters who exist on the margins of society. During his presentation, he inspired our S4 pupils by sharing his journey of overcoming challenges with words and reading to achieve success as a writer, despite facing adversity along the way.

The session sparked a curiosity in our youth- two of them were inspired to borrow his book!

We are looking forward to the upcoming visits from the two other writers and we hope that they will generate equal, if not greater, enthusiasm towards reading and literacy.

This Project is supported by the Scottish Government School Library Improvement Fund.

New year, new books!

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The year 2024 started off with an amazing surprise – the arrival of a fresh new stock!

The library assistants were thrilled to take charge of unboxing and ensuring that all titles were accounted for. They were already busy planning the future display.

https://x.com/stmungo_library/status/1746835334950797620?s=20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this delivery, some books were requested by pupils and they finally arrived! The joy on their faces when I told them the long-awaited book is finally here!

What a fantastic way to start off the year!