Author Archives: Ms Barron

CHS Rights Respecting Book-of-the-Month: November

The Rights Respecting Schools Award recognises a school’s achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice within the school and beyond. Every month Castlemilk High School features one book that highlights particular rights included under the UNCRC.  

This month’s book is  Romeo and Juliet. This classic play by The Bard has been around a long, long time. Since it was first written centuries ago, the story has been told and retold countless times and ways. This tale of two young ‘star crossed lovers’  links to a number of articles including:

  • Article 15: Freedom of association 
  • Article 12: Respect for the views of the child 
  • Article 5: Parental guidance 

 

Romeo, from the Montague family, and Juliet, of the Capulet clan, fall deeply in love at first sight.

Fearful of punishment from their respective factions, the two teens keep their love hidden from everyone. However, when their commitment to each other is exposed, it adds more fuel to the heated family feud between the Capulets and Montagues and puts their love and their lives at risk.

Romeo and Juliet is available now in book or ebook format from the school library. 

Find out more about borrowing ebooks and audiobooks using the Libby app

St Roch’s Reads: October

What’s happening this month in St Roch’s School Library?

Story groups

Our S1 and S2 story groups take place every two weeks in the library. In September we had a new bunch of pupils join, so we made some ‘All about me’ zines to get to know each other. Our S2 group did some poetry craft, making their own patchwork-poems out of quotes from lines of poetry and songs. 

This month we had a spooky theme for our sessions- monsters! We learned a bit about the story of Frankenstein (did you know that ‘Frankenstein’ was actually the scientist, not the monster??) and then designed our own monsters. There were some very scary creations! Afterwards we managed to squeeze in a Blooket ‘gold quest’ quiz, which was almost as scary.  

New volunteers 

This month we welcome 10 new volunteers who want to join the pupil library team. Our new members met their mentors who will help them learn all about being a library assistant and show them the ropes for the next month. Pupils will be learning about how the library is organised, practising customer service skills and helping senior volunteers with projects.  They’ll be pros in no time!

October Book Displays

We’ve got two spotlight displays this month. On our Black History Month display you’ll find a range of non-fiction books celebrating Black history, culture and important figures. Don’t worry if you’re not a non-fiction fan, there’s also some great fiction books by Black authors. 

October is of course Spooky Season. If you’re a fan of all things scary, our Halloween display is perfect for you. It’s full of frightful books, ghoulish horror, mysterious murders and things that go bump in the night.

Happy reading everyone!

CHS Rights Respecting Book-of-the-Month: October

The Rights Respecting Schools Award recognises a school’s achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice within the school and beyond. Castlemilk High School is currently working hard towards getting a Gold award this year. To help raise awareness of pupils rights, every month the library features one book that highlights some articles from the UNCRC. October’s Book-of-the-Month is The curious case of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon,  which links to a number of articles including:  

  • Article 2: Nondiscrimination
  • Article 12: Respect for the views of the child
  • Article 23: Children with a disability

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. 

Fifteen-year-old Christopher knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he discovers a dead dog on a neighbour’s lawn he decides to solve the mystery and write a detective thriller about it.

As in all good detective stories, however, the more he unearths, the deeper the mystery gets.. 

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time is available now in bookebook and audiobook format from the school library.

Find out more about borrowing ebooks and audiobooks using the Libby app

Rights Respecting Book-of-the-Month: September

Castlemilk High School: Rights Respecting School

The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) works with schools in the UK to create safe and inspiring places to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive. The Rights Respecting Schools Award embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active citizens. 

The Award recognises a school’s achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice within the school and beyond. 

The Rights Respecting group and Mrs Heffron are working hard to get the Gold award for Castlemilk High School. One part of this is a Book-of-the-Month promotion, to help raise pupils’ awareness of their rights under the UN Convention . Each month, the library promotes one book highlighting UNCRC articles. This month’s book is ‘Noughts and Crosses’ by Malorie Black, which links to a number of articles including:  

2: Nondiscrimination 

15: Freedom of association 

28: Right to an education 

In an alternate reality the population is divided into two: the white Noughts are second-class citizens, and the black Crosses are highly-revered and perceived as the superior race.Sephy is a Cross: she lives a life of privilege and power. Callum is a nought: he’s considered to be less than nothing – a blanker, there to serve Crosses.

They’ve been friends since they were children, and they both know that’s as far as it can ever go. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies – love is out of the question. Then – in spite of a world that is fiercely against them – these star-crossed lovers choose each other. But this is love story that will lead both of them into terrible danger . . . and which will have shocking repercussions for generations to come.

Noughts and Crosses is available now in book and ebook format from the school library. 

 

St Roch’s Reads: September

What’s been happening this month in St Roch’s School Library?

After a brief visit from the sun, Autumn is definitely here. This week our library assistants Niamh and Ava put together an autumnal- themed display, full of lovely seasonal colours. 

The library also got a wee refresh this month, with some new carpet. All the library volunteers were on hand to help with emptying the shelves and they deserve a huge Thank You for their efforts. Now the real task is reshelving but they’re doing a great job of it! 

We welcomed all our new S1 pupils to the library this month. Classes learned how to use the library, all about the different books available and they also got their brand new library cards.

We had some kind S2 and S3 pupils on hand to help answer questions and show younger pupils around too. Everyone is ready for a great year of library visits! 

Lastly, the new book options have been great this month. Here’s the top picks so far from library assistant Roya.  

New term, new books!

Its the start of a new school year and we’re delighted to welcome everyone back to the library. We can’t believe it’s autumn already!  

Even though school is just back, we’ve already got lots of lovely new reads on offer. Our library assistants have been excitedly rifling through the new books. Here they share their top picks and the reasons they’re excited to read them. 

A tale of two knights : An Arthurian love story / ill. by L S Biehler 

When Merlin goes missing and Camelot falls under attack, King Arthur sends his estranged half-sister, Morgan le Fay, and esteemed Knights of the Round Table, Tristan and Lancelot, to find him. In this reimagining of an Arthurian legend, Knights of the Round Table Lancelot and Tristan set out on a quest to find the missing magician Merlin but instead discover an unexpected romance. 

Pupils say: This looks like a very good slow-burn love story 

If my words had wings / by Danielle Jawando 

When fifteen-year-old Tyrell Forrester gets caught up in a high-profile armed robbery, he’s sentenced to eighteen months in a young offenders’ prison.  Inspired by a visiting poet while inside, Ty discovers a whole new world through spoken word and is finally finding his voice. But will society ever see him as anything other than a criminal? A life affirming story of rehabilitation and hope after prison. 

Pupils say: The book cover is really eye catching and the title sounds engaging. 

The hunt for Star-Lord / Illustrated by Cam Kendell 

Rocket and Groot are living their best lives touring the galaxy for the very best deep-dish pizza in the universe. Just as Rocket is about to bite down on a gooey slice of pizza with extra trash, an alert pops up on his bounty tracker: Star-Lord has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom! 

Pupils say: I like Marvel in general, especially Star-Lord 

Deadly deep / be Jennifer Kilick 

It’s summer term and time for a school trip with a difference! Year 8 are on a boat off the coast of France, learning about ocean life. But things are about to get WEIRD . . . 

Who is the creepy man on board the ship? And what IS the vast, shadowy creature seen lurking at the bottom of the ocean? A perfect story for fans of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps and Stranger Things! 

Pupils say: The cover tells me it’s a very good read and the blurb sounds amazing. 

Black Hole Cinema Club / by Christopher Edge  

When Lucas meets his friends at the local cinema – nicknamed ‘The Black Hole’ – they’re excited about the movie marathon ahead. Non-stop action, blockbuster special effects and all the snacks they can eat. But as the lights go down, Lucas, Ash, Maya, Caitlin and Finn watch in disbelief as a jet-black tidal wave comes crashing out of the cinema screen and the five friends find themselves swept into an epic adventure. 

Pupils say: The cover and the back look interesting, it sounds like a very good read. 

Dead lock / by Simon Fox 

Archie Blake thought his policeman father teaching him how to pick locks and open safes was just a bit of fun. But when a diamond necklace is stolen and his dad is arrested, Archie realises the only way to prove Dad’s innocence is to go on the run and use everything he’s learned to uncover the truth. But Archie soon finds himself deeply tangled in the criminal underworld, where it’s hard to know who to trust and even harder to see what’s right or wrong. 

Perfect for fans of Alex Rider and Artemis Fowl. 

Pupils Say: The art of the cover makes this look like a really cool book.  

 Skandar and the unicorn thief / by A. F. Steadman 

Thirteen-year-old Skandar Smith has only ever wanted to be a unicorn rider. To be one of the lucky few selected to hatch a unicorn. To bond with it for life; to train together and race for glory; to be a hero. But just as Skandar’s dream is about to come true, things start to take a more dangerous turn than he could ever have imagined. A dark and twisted enemy has stolen the Island’s most powerful unicorn – and as the threat grows ever closer, Skandar discovers a secret that could blow apart his world forever . . . 

The first book in the award-winning, international hit fantasy adventure series. Perfect for fans of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Eragon and Fireborn  

Pupils say: The cover has a fantasy vibe and it kind of looks like the Percy Jackson series, which I really like.  

Dune / by Frank Herbert 

Melange, or ‘spice’, is the most valuable – and rarest – element in the universe. And it can only be found on a single planet: the inhospitable desert world Arrakis. Whoever controls Arrakis controls the spice. And whoever controls the spice controls the universe. When stewardship of Arrakis is transferred to his house, Paul Atreides must travel to the planet’s dangerous surface to ensure the future of his family and his people. But as malevolent forces explode into conflict around him, Paul is thrust into a great destiny beyond his understanding.

Librarian’s pick: I really loved the Dune movies, the story is so exciting and mysterious. I grabbed this new edition arrived, I wanted to read it and find out more about the characters. Plus, this way I don’t need to wait for the next movie to find out what happens next!

What will your next read be?

June@ Castlemilk Highschool Library

Pride 2024

Every June, Pride Month celebrates the rights of LGBTQ+ people in societies all around the world. Pride brings awareness to the LGBTQ+ community and the history of people’s fight for equal rights. 

We have loads of books that can help you learn more about LGBTQ+ cultural and history. Or why not read a book by an LGBTQ+ author this month? Browse our Pride collect on Padlet and visit the library to collect your next read.  

Dungeons & Dragons

On Fridays afternoons, pupils in S1-S3 have the opportunity to take part in lots of different activities as part of the Wider Achievement program. For the summer term, the library hosted a beginners Dungeons & Dragons group. Pupils spent a few sessions building their characters, choosing their skills and inventing backstories. We ended up with elves, druids, halflings, and lots of Dragonborn. Then we were ready to play! Big thank you to our star pupil Payton, who was our D&D oracle and lead everyone through some very exciting trap-filled adventures.

New New New

We also got some great new books, just in tie for the holidays. Here’s a wee sample of top picks in fantasy, sci-fi and the supernatural. All of these are available now from the school library.

 

St Roch’s Reads: June

What’s happening in St Roch’s library as we reach the end of another school year

Empathy Day

Taking place in June every year, Empathy Day celebrates and grows empathy’s power to create a better world. It shines a light on books’ role in raising an empathy-educated generation. through stories, and to put empathy into action! 

This year we marked empathy day with an Empathy Bookshelf display and  Empathy Reads noticeboard. The library volunteers did a wonderful job on their corridor display.  

Ms Wood’s S2 class also joined in an Empathy Day activity session. We listened to ‘The piano at the station’ a story by Helen Rutter from the empathy shorts collection. We then spoke in groups about the story, using conversation prompts then helped us think about the experience and emotions of characters.  Afterwards we broke out the art supplies and created colourful emotion maps, describing our own feelings from the day or imagining what the characters were feeling in the story. There are lots of great activities and samples in the annual Empathy Day resource pack and on their website including a great selection of short stories from fantastic authors.  

Storytelling group 

We also had our final story group of the year! Our groups in S1 and S2 take part in creative activities focused on storytelling which can help pupils to recognize their emotions and express themselves. 

For our last sessions pupils picked an emotion off the feelings wheel, imagined that emotion as a character and then wrote a descriptive poem. Afterwards we used modelling clay or lego to build our poem character. This session was based on poetry prompts shared by Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2023 Joseph Coelho.

Library Volunteers

As term finished, we celebrated a year of hard work from our volunteer team with a pizza party and movie screening. Everyone was a great help in the library over the year but a few pupils went above and beyond and earned their first Library Assistant Award. Well done to Raya, Ore, Rose, Ava, Roya and Msgana. And a big thank you to our HT Mr Herron for providing the pizza and snacks, which went down very well!  What a great end to the school year. 

We were very grateful to the Scottish Poetry Library this month for funding a poetry session for pupils with Julie McNeill.  Julie is a poet and non-fiction writer living in Glasgow. She has published two poetry collections: Something Small and Ragged Rainbows, she also co-wrote Mission Dyslexia, a non-fiction book for children and young people with dyslexia.  

Julie is the Poet-in-residence for St Mirren FC charitable trust and a huge football fan.

In the session with our S2 pupils she used football to explore emotion and self-expression. Pupils used a memory as a jumping off point to write their own poem. We were really impressed with the poems that were created, and well done to the pupils who willing to share their wonderful work. 

Huge thanks to Julie for visiting and for donating us a signed copy of We are Scottish football. You can borrow this and Mission dyslexia from the school library now.  

St Roch’s Reads: April

Autism Acceptance Week, Easter, Eid, exams – April is one busy month! Here’s what’s been happening in St Roch’s School Library. 

Pupil Reads: Steady for this by Nathanael Lessore 

This month some of our pupils have been reading through the Yoto Carnegie shortlist titles and sharing mini-reviews.  Here are Roya’s thoughts on Steady for this by Nathanael Lessore. Find out about the other shortlist books available in the school library here.

Q: Tell me about the book, but don’t give away the ending! 

The book is about a boy who wants to be a rapper and then a big twist happens. It is a book about racism and lifestyle. At first you might not like it but at the end it’s a nice and smooth going book.

Q: Tell me about your favourite part of the book 

When he meets a new friend who doesn’t know about his embarrassment and sticks with him till the end. 

Q: I recommend this book to anyone who likes.. 

A nice, easy going, romantic comedy. 

Q: What would you like to ask the author? 

What would you do if your mum exposed your dirty laundry to the world, live? ?

World Autism Acceptance Week 2-8th April 

Autism Acceptance Week is a yearly event planned around Autism Acceptance Day

It aims to help more people understand what autism is and how it can affect life for people. It also highlights and celebrate the achievements of autistic people past and present.  

Reading books is a brilliant way to develop understanding and share life experiences from many perspectives. Along with information books, there’s a great range of fiction books written by or about people with autism, available in the school library. You can get the full list on our library Padlet page here. 

Eid 

Earlier this month Muslim people around the world celebrated Eid, marking the end of Ramadan and 30 days of fasting. It is one of the biggest festivals in the Islamic calendar, celebrated with family, friends, food and prayer. We put together a collection of books by Muslim authors to mark Ramadan and Eid, which you can find on our Padlet page.

You can borrow any of these from the school library, just ask at the desk.  

Lucky Dip  

St Roch’s pupils have a great reading culture, with library visits and personal reading time built into English classes. Pupils regularly visit us regularly for new reading material, but sometimes they can find it hard to choose something. Our library assistant Ava had a great idea to help pupils who just can’t decide- a Lucky Dip book box!

How does it work?

We chose a range of different books we thought pupils would enjoy, non fiction, quick reads, comics and all types of fiction genres. Then Ava made up tickets with the book title and 3 word descriptions. Now pupils who are stuck can take a ticket from the box and bring it to the desk to get there lucky dip surprise read. It’s worked really well with our regular class visits. Well done Ava for a great idea! 

Keep calm and carry on-through-exams 

It’s exam time for our senior pupils! This time of year can be very stressful few weeks, so it’s extra important to take care of yourself and your mental health. There are lots of books that can help you manage stress/anxiety and find a little bit of calm. Check out some of these books on the Stress Less book display, available now in the school library. Well done to the library assistant team for putting this together.