Category Archives: All

P7 transition day @St Mungo’s library

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.

Earth Day @Holyrood Library

Earth Day was the perfect time to look at how we can become more environmentally friendly in the library, and also to celebrate books and reading.

Earth Day book display

S1 volunteers created an excellent book display, selecting their favourite books on climate change, sustainability, plastic pollution, and oceans. They were keen to include books with beautiful illustrations, as we feel these are a powerful way to make people care more about the environment.       

We had great discussion about what everyone can do to help the Planet, such as reducing use of plastic and energy consumption. We ended our session with some wonderful artwork and an acrostic poem. Well done and thanks to Niamh, Zaynab, Freya, Matilda, Eliza, Julia, Kaneez, Mya  and Alfie for this

 

Creative writing Our lunchtime group wrote ‘A Thank You letter to Planet Earth’.

Throughout the year, we’ve been thinking of ways to cut down on waste and be more sustainable, very much  inspired by our fantastic PT Learning for Sustainability, and pupil Eco-Team. Here’s our Holyrood 3 step #GreenLibraries action plan:

Making our own posters for events

  • Print less and make our own posters, recycling scrap paper and magazines where possible. When printing is necessary, print double sided, or in booklet form.

 

  • We make our own bookmarks by recycling old books, cardboard, and packaging. These are very popular!

Recycled bookmarks

  • All pupils and staff have access to the Libby reading app. The free magazines are especially popular.  In a recent Staff survey –  all agreed that one of the benefits of Libby is that it’s kind to the environment (no more magazines going into the bin). You can get help with Libby here in the Library, and also from both the English dept., and Support for Learning. Join up in about 20 seconds – great for the holidays!

    Download the free Libby app

What I’m Reading

‘When I First Held You’

‘When I First Held You’ by Anstey Harris begins in a Repair shop. Judy, the owner, has experienced loss and tragedy in the past. Can she find a way to mend the damage? Will her story end like those of her customers, who get to see their broken objects restored?

Our Book Group loved the cover of this book, and think the golden thread shows how beauty and value is added when an object is repaired. With a bit of research, we found the Japanese word for exactly this ‘kintsugi’ – mending broken pottery with gold.

In Western culture, we sometimes tend to value things that are new, and often over-buy, without considering what items we already have. I’ve also enjoyed books by both Marie Kondo, and Helen Sanderson. Both books tackle the modern day problem of having too many possessions and how we can live more sustainably and find joy with less.

New: Creative Writing Club

With spring in the air, there’s no better time to embrace your creative potential! Come along to our brand-new Creative Writing Club, every Wednesday at Lunchtime, to try your hand at a variety of artistic endeavours. From prose to poetry to comics and visual art, all forms of creativity are warmly welcomed & will be nourished alike!

We start off each week with a quick overview of one literary element and one figure of speech, before moving on to an introduction to a specific genre — such as mystery, dystopia, or horror. We talk about the common conventions of the genre, as well as how to subvert them in our work, and discuss all our favourite examples as well. Finally, each week we highlight one style of poetry (such as haiku, limerick, or blackout poetry) and one style of prose (e.g. six-word fiction, drabble, or flash fiction).

With all that done, we set a timer and get to creating! We have plenty of topical prompts and templates each week, aimed at encouraging you to try your hand at a new genre or format you may not be sure about, but everyone is welcome to create whatever feels right for them in the moment. We also make sure to leave a few minutes at the end for sharing & feedback — both of which are completely optional, of course!

In short, if you’re looking for a creative outlet, or need some support and inspiration to pick up an old hobby again, Creative Writing Club might just be the place for you.

See you there!

Coming Up: Book Return Contest

Now that the Library is back up and running, we have an exciting new challenge for all our keen (and not-so-keen!) readers. Each S2-S4 class will have one week to return as many books as they can, with the winners getting treated to an end-of-term movie screening in the Library!

When returning your books, make sure to give them to Ms Petrova so she can make sure that a) they’re all Notre Dame High School library books (hint: check the first page or two for a sticker!), and b) that they’re added to your class’ total.

Good luck!

May the books be with you !

Wow, what a lot to fit in to one month.

At Lochend, May is such a busy month. We have lots going on, so sometimes you may think it’s hard to fit reading into your day or you don’t have time. Don’t worry, the library has the answer.  Why don’t you grab one of our Quick Reads?

Quick Reads cover all sorts of different subjects and genres, so there is something to suit everyone.  From wanting a quick story to read before bed, to not enjoying longer books, Quick Reads aren’t restricted to a single group of pupils.  I use some Quick Reads stories to tell to pupils as well, I think they are great.  And many of the books are also on dyslexia friendly paper too – so if you have dyslexia, the background printing of the stories should make them easier to read.  Check them out the next time you are in the library !

Senior Fiction.  Our seniors section has had some new books too, both for non fiction fun and reading for pleasure.  Some are enough to make you hungry. Check out this beautiful book with great, easy to follow instructions.  It might even inspire you to start your own business. However if you do make one of the cakes – save a piece for the librarian !

A local author next – from Glasgow – who has made it big in the international art world and even modelled for Manfred Thierry Mugler.  This senior title is a true story of resilience from Juano Diaz, telling of his upbringing with his mother, who had substance abuse challenges and loses her partner in a terrible accident.  Afterwards, Juano was taken into care in a children’s home and describes the difficulty fitting in, worrying about his mum and wondering what would happen to him next.

Juano was adopted by a Romany Catholic family from Glasgow and the main narrative of the book describes how he recognises his sexuality and how this isn’t something compatible with his adopted family’s beliefs or way of life.  As a young teenager he leaves home, ending up homeless and sharing bedsits / flats with addicts.  However, Juano fights his way away from the lifestyle.  To find out what happens next, you just have to read the book.  So much packed into one novel.  It’s available in the library, but be quick, this is such a great biography it won’t be on the shelves for long.

 

And of course, it’s exam season in all schools just now, so the library is very quiet with everyone studying for their upcoming exams.  Good luck Lochend – we know you can do it !  And remember, taking a break from studying to read a book helps relax your mind and can aid in getting to sleep.  So build reading into that daily routine, and before you know it, you won’t be able to go a day without it 😊

 

April 2024 Roundup – Whitehill Secondary School Library

This month, we’ve uploaded some fun quizzes and activities to our Library Channel in each year group Teams. For Talk Like Shakespeare Day, we shared our ‘Shakespeare Dictionary’ and Shakespeare Phrases’ information sheets for pupils to learn more about the common words the Bard invented that are still in use today.  Our quizzes include National Pet Month, World Art Day, and International Guitar Month. Pupils were encouraged to complete one or all three quizzes for a chance to be entered into our monthly prize draw.

Recent Arrivals: New Book Highlights

Forensic Science by Chris Cooper

Joey Drew Studios: Employee Handbook by Cala Spinner, illust. Paul davies

Johnny Ball: International Football Genius by Matt Oldfield, illust. Tim Wesson

Seven Million Sunflowers by Malcolm Duffy

The Weather Well by Vashti Hardy, illust. Natalie Smillie

Literary and Cultural Celebration Booklists for April: Booklists to tie into various literary and cultural celebrations.

Planet Vs Plastics Book List: The theme for this year’s Earth Day is Planet vs Plastics to raise awareness of the health and environmental risks of plastics.

Stress Booklist: Stress Awareness Month calls for a greater awareness of the negative impact of stress. Our booklist features some nonfiction titles to help young people manage their stress.

Autism Book List: World Autism Month and Autism Awareness Day (April 2nd) aims to celebrate Autism awareness and acceptance. Our Juniorl, Young Adult, and Senior + Staff book list feature nonfiction and fiction titles.

Trending Booklists: Monthly highlights and new releases

Epic Reads – New Releases

The Guardian – Children’s Book Roundup

Love Reading for Kids – Books of the Month

Scholastic – Books of the Month

Scottish Book Trust – Book Lists

Toppsta – Our Favourite New Children’s Books This Month

Waterstones – Books of the Month

Recent Awards: UK book award winners, shortlists, and longlists

British Science Fiction Awards – Winners

Branford Boase Award – Shortlist

CWA Daggers Awards – Longlists

Granta Best of Young British Novelists – Winners

Jhalak Prize – Shortlists

Women’s Prize for Fiction – Shortlist

Competitions: Writing competitions for young people

Foyles Young Poets of the Year Award

Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

Young Writers Competition

Book Buzz: Latest book news from major media outlets and book websites

BBC

Book Riot

Buzzfeed

Epic Reads

The Guardian

Huffpost

The New York Times

What’s On in May

International Museums Day: Take a virtual tour and explore some artefacts held by some of the world’s famous museums and galleries using our interactive documents available on the Library Channel on Teams.

National Walking Month: National Walking Month is a campaign launched by Living Streets. This year, Living Streets invites people to discover the #MagicOf Walking to celebrate the many health and happiness benefits of walking and wheeling. To celebrate, the School Library has created an interactive guide to local Glasgow Life Community Libraries all within walking distance to Whitehill Secondary School which will be available in the Library Channel on Teams.

Teams Quizzes:

World Goth Day – Poe or Young Adult quiz: World Goth Day is observed annually on May 22nd. We’re hosting a quiz on Teams featuring none other than the father of gothic literature, Edgar Allan Poe. Pupils are invited to guess whether the quotes are from Young Adult Gothic novels or from one of Poe’s works.

Book Lists for May:

Gothic Book List: Featuring Junior, Young Adult, and Senior + Staff gothic fiction to tie in with World Goth Day festivities.

Shelf Help Book List: Mental Health Awareness Week takes place from 13th-19th May on the theme of “Movement: Moving more for our mental health”. Our book list features some helpful titles on mental health for Young People that are available in the School Library.

Mental Health websites:

Children’s Mental Health Scotland

Mental Health Foundation

Mind.org

Rethink.org

Scottish Action for Mental Health

See Me

Young Minds

Young Scot

April 2024 Roundup – Shawlands Academy School Library

It’s exam time for our senior phase pupils which means that our school library will be used throughout the exam period. However, the School Librarian has taken this opportunity to reach out to our S1-3 classes to deliver a list of books out on loan. It’s fantastic to see that over 950 books are issued to our BGE pupils alone!

In lieu of the library being closed for exams week beginning 22nd April, we’ve uploaded some fun quizzes and activities to our Library Channel in each year group Teams. For Talk Like Shakespeare Day, we shared our ‘Shakespeare Dictionary’ and Shakespeare Phrases’ information sheets for pupils to learn more about the common words the Bard invented that are still in use today.  Our quizzes include National Pet Month, World Art Day, and International Guitar Month. Pupils were encouraged to complete one or all three quizzes for a chance to be entered into our monthly prize draw.

What’s Trending: Popular and recently borrowed books this month

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli – ‘This is the best book I’ve ever read’.

Book of the Day: Featured pupil recommendations

15th: A Different Kind of Freedom: A Romani Story by Richard O’Neill

18th: Lil’ Muffin Drops the Mic by Romesh Ranganathan, illust. James Lancett

19th: The Marvels by Brian Selznick

Author of the Week: Chosen by pupils

WB 15th: Chris Priestly

WB 22nd: Robin Talley

WB 25th: Jenny McLachlan

Series of the Week: Chosen by pupils

WB 15th: Onyeka by Tola Okogwu

WB 22nd: Summoner Trilogy by Taran Matharu

WB 25th: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han

Recent Arrivals: New Book Highlights

Awful Animals by John Wood, Illust. Jasmine Pointer

Barb and the Shadow Army by Daniel Raj Abdo, illust. Jason Linwood Patterson

The Impossible City: Vol 1 by Jed MacKay, illust. Carlos Villa

Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian

Pandora Perfect by Roger Langridge, illust. Brett Parson

Literary and Cultural Celebration Book Lists for April: Book lists to tie into various literary and cultural celebrations. Interactive book lists available on the Library Channel on Teams

Planet Vs Plastics Book List: The theme for this year’s Earth Day is Planet vs Plastics to raise awareness of the health and environmental risks of plastics.

Stress Book List: Stress Awareness Month calls for a greater awareness of the negative impact of stress. Our book List features some nonfiction titles to help young people manage their stress.

Autism Book List: World Autism Month and Autism Awareness Day (April 2nd) aims to celebrate Autism awareness and acceptance. Our Junior, Young Adult, and Senior + Staff book list feature nonfiction and fiction titles.

Trending Book Lists: Monthly highlights and new releases

Epic Reads – New Releases

The Guardian – Children’s Book Roundup

Love Reading for Kids – Books of the Month

Scholastic – Books of the Month

Scottish Book Trust – Book Lists

Toppsta – Our Favourite New Children’s Books This Month

Waterstones – Books of the Month

Recent Awards: UK book award winners, shortlists, and longlists

British Science Fiction Awards – Winners

Branford Boase Award – Shortlist

CWA Daggers Awards – Longlists

Granta Best of Young British Novelists – Winners

Jhalak Prize – Shortlists

Women’s Prize for Fiction – Shortlist

Competitions: Writing competitions for young people

Foyles Young Poets of the Year Award

Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

Young Writers Competition

Book Buzz: Latest book news from major media outlets and book websites

BBC

Book Riot

Buzzfeed

Epic Reads

The Guardian

Huffpost

The New York Times

 

What’s On in May

Shawlands Academy School Library Quills Prize for Creative Writing Contest: Our final seasonal creative writing contest of the school year in time for National Share a Story Month. Any form of creative writing is permitted, 500 words or less. Deadline May 31st.

International Museums Day: Take a virtual tour and explore some artefacts held by some of the world’s famous museums and galleries using our interactive documents available on the Library Channel on each year group Teams.

National Walking Month: National Walking Month is a campaign launched by Living Streets. This year, Living Streets invites people to discover the #MagicOf Walking to celebrate the many health and happiness benefits of walking and wheeling. To celebrate, the School Library has created an interactive guide to local Glasgow Life Community Libraries all within walking distance to Shawlands Academy which will be available in the Library Channel on each year group Teams.

Teams Quizzes:

World Goth Day – Poe or Young Adult quiz: World Goth Day is observed annually on May 22nd. We’re hosting a quiz on Teams featuring none other than the father of gothic literature, Edgar Allan Poe. Pupils are invited to guess whether the quotes are from Young Adult Gothic novels or from one of Poe’s works.

Book Lists for May: Interactive booklists available on the Library Channel on Teams

Gothic Book List: Featuring Junior, Young Adult, and Senior + Staff gothic fiction to tie in with World Goth Day festivities.

Shelf Help Book List: Mental Health Awareness Week takes place from 13th-19th May on the theme of “Movement: Moving more for our mental health”. Our book list features some helpful titles on mental health for Young People that are available in the School Library.

Mental Health websites:

Children’s Mental Health Scotland

Mental Health Foundation

Mind.org

Rethink.org

Scottish Action for Mental Health

See Me

Young Minds

Young Scot

Spring is in the Air at Hyndland Library

Spring has truly sprung at Hyndland Library, the flowers are starting to come out, the bees are buzzing and the romance novels are more popular than ever.

Our S1 Library Assistants have put together a fabulous display for spring readers with some sunshine and blue skies in the hope the sun starts to come out soon! They chose a selection of books around the theme including lots of pretty spring covers. Here they are putting the new display together.

 

Some books featured in the display include the titles below. Click on the image for a link to the ebook which can be borrowed through the Libby App using your library card!

Hyndland Secondary is also looking to better reflect the diversity within the school by creating and Equality and Diversity steering group lead by the parent council. As the council meets in the Library we thought it would be great to showcase some of the fantastic authors available on our shelves. 

 

Try some of the amazing books by clicking on the books below to get a copy of the ebook through the library using the Libby app.

 

 

The Smithycroft News 👩‍🏫

April was a pretty exciting month in Smithycroft! As we share the library with the Careers Advisor, we had a chat and decided to team up and make a “Careers shelf” with the Careers’ own University prospects on one side and the library’s Work & Exams Advice books on the other side. It is a small section for us but we will tackle it with more books getting ordered soon!

A lovely group of library regulars was excited about the books that they borrowed. Here is a  top 3 of recommendations by Ashfa, Lucia and Alaa who love kpop, manga and play in the school band.

SPY×FAMILY by Tatsuya Endo: The story follows a spy who has to “build a family” to execute a mission, not realizing that his adopted daughter is a telepath, and the woman he agrees to marry is a skilled assassin.

Movie Mondays in JPA Library

After our most recent Bookworms meeting, our pupil committee decided to bring back our film club in the form of Movie Mondays, where we can gather to watch the film adaptations of amazing books.

Here’s a quick list of some great YA book adaptations that are worth a read and a watch!

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Set in a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place.
Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called The Hunger Games.
There is only one rule: kill or be killed.
When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her younger sister’s place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence.
But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he’s not alone.
He’s surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade – a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they came to be there – or what’s happened to the world outside.
All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything – even the Grievers, half-machine, half-animal horror that patrol its corridors, to try and find out …

Divergent, by Veronica Roth

In the world of Divergent, society is divided into five factions – Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity and Erudite. Every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice Prior, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is. Her choice shocks everyone, including herself.

The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare

Available to watch as both a movie and TV series!

Love.  Blood.  Betrayal.  Demons.   Irresistibly drawn towards a group of demon hunters, Clary encounters the dark side of New York City and the dangers of forbidden love.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan

  

Available to watch as both a movie and TV series!

Percy Jackson is having a bad week. His life has gone from totally normal to monsters-from-Greek-mythology-randomly-appearing kind of strange. Worse still, the king of the gods thinks Percy has stolen his all-powerful lightning bolt – and it seems making Zeus angry is a very bad idea.
Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to catch the true lightning thief and stop all-out war from erupting on Mount Olympus. . .
What could possibly go wrong?

Heartstopper, by Alice Oseman

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love.

Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they’ve never met … until one day when they’re made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance.
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised.

Nimona, by ND Stevenson

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc.
Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren’t the heroes everyone thinks they are. But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona’s powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, by Jenny Han

Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. One for every boy she’s ever loved.
When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only.
Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control!

Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo

Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold – a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed.

The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here – one of whom was his own grandfather – were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow – impossible though it seems – they may still be alive.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

It is 1939. In Nazi Germany, the country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier – and will become busier still.
By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed forever when she picks up a single object, abandoned in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, and this is her first act of book thievery. So begins Liesel’s love affair with books and words, and soon she is stealing from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library . . . wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times, and when Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, nothing will ever be the same again.

Our Movie Mondays are kicking off with a classic, a favourite, and one of the few films I believe is better than the book: The Princess Bride!