Category Archives: Bannerman High School

Exciting New Projects & Adventures

We start the new year waiting for many new exciting book releases and books that have created a buzz, among which: “Impossible Creatures” by Katherine Rundell, winner of Waterstones Book of the Year 2023; the long-awaited 5^th volume of “Heartstopper” by Alice Oseman, sure to be constantly on loan; and “Treacle Town” by Brian Conaghan. We will be honoured to host Brian Conaghan for a session here at Bannerman soon as part of ‘The Library Young Team,’ a SLIF-funded project by Glasgow School Libraries & Renfrewshire School Libraries. This project focuses on the theme of gang culture and will also see Alan Bissett and Graeme Armstrong visiting Bannerman High for a session with our pupils.

As for the non-fiction focus of the month for the school library newsletter, Ms Bortolato has been thinking about travelling away from the darkness of January (and yes it’s only the 4th of January now, what about it?) and planning a new adventures as an antidote to the winter blues. Eager to share adventure ideas, she quickly realised that there is already too much planning to do in a school, so let it suffice that we might just enjoy a bit of bookish wanderlust within the pages of these suggested readings…

See, the school library provides you with extremely cheap travel opportunities so make sure you go to the libraryscanner(.com*) for the best bargains.
* Website doesn’t actually exist

Bannerman’s Readers’ Corner and Newsletter

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At Bannerman, we have a new welcoming display outside the library – a book recommendations wall! Pupils can pick up a recommendation slip from the library during their reading period, and when they have finished their book they can write a short review of it. This gives us a chance to showcase the range of books our young readers choose, as well as inspire other pupils take up their peers’ suggestion, and elaborate their thoughts on what they read thus becoming a bit more critical readers.

Ms Bortolato has also started a staff newsletter which will be monthly, with the aim of making school staff aware of what’s new in the wonderful world of children’s literature – plus a different curricular focus each month. This month, we shone a light on the library’s extensive music collection! What will be the next one…?

Bannerman’s new library helpers

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pupils writing the book genre inside the book

We have some new library helpers among the S1 pupils! This group of kids walked up to the librarian asking if they could help with anything, because they were bored… well surely there is a lot to help with, as the junior fiction has been recently divided by genres! So, pens at hand, they helped the librarian write the genre of books in the first page. Hopefully they’ll keep being this keen to help, because with about 1,815 books in junior fiction alone, the librarian cannot do this all by herself! #teamworkdreamwork

pupils writing the book genre inside the book

Genrefying the Library

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At Bannerman High, the fiction section has been divided by genre rather than alphabetical order. This was done in hopes of supporting our readers in finding a book they might enjoy by following the kind of plot they prefer the most, as well as to invite them to read across different genres. The genres are: history in stories; animals are pals; action; fantasy and magical stories; comedy; slice of life; crime-horror-mystery.

There will also be a monthly “theme” display where the pupils will have the opportunity to highlight a specific collection in the library.

Updates from Bannerman

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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!

Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 in Bannerman and Smithycroft

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Holocaust Memorial Day is on January 27th. This date marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp, in 1945.

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2023, a display has been made in both schools with plenty of factual information, as well as stories, in order to remember the 6 million innocent Jewish people who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II. We also remember those who survived to live with these horrible memories – and bravely share them.

Some pupils in Bannerman were keen to keep working on Holocaust Education.

Please read real-life testimony from the people who lived those times. Here are some recommendations:

If This is a Man by Primo Levi;
Lily’s Promise by Lily Ebert and Dov Forman (you can borrow the audiobook on Libby – ask your librarian for help with login);
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frenkl (you can borrow this as an eBook on Libby);
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank;
Questions I Am Asked About the Holocaust by Hédi Fried (you can borrow this as an eBook on Libby);
After the War by Tom Palmer (heavily informed by real stories);
Maus by Art Spiegelman.

On the Libby app you can find reading lists of eBooks and audiobooks you can borrow for free with your Glasgow Libraries membership. Here they are: