Pupils from Calderhead High School, accompanied by Ms Faulds and Mrs Lumsden, had the opportunity to join the panel at the recent Authors Live event at the BBC in Glasgow.
Authors Live is a series of live webcasts filmed by BBC Scotland Learning and presented in partnership with the Scottish Book Trust. They feature some of the most prominent authors, poets and illustrators, and the webcasts can be accessed on the BBC website.
This latest Authors Live event talked about unheard voices in the writing industry and the barriers that stop diverse voices from being heard. The panellists included Alex Wheatle, author of the award-winning Crongton sequence, Scottish rapper Dave Hook from hip hop band Stanley Odd, and Anni Cameron, poet. As well as the discussion, pupils enjoyed raps from Dave Hook and Alex Wheatle reading from his latest novel ‘Straight Outta Crongton’. S4 pupil, Heather Duncanson, asked the panel whether they felt that they had to be role models for teenagers and you can see their response on the BBC site. Pupils were gifted books and were delighted to have these signed by the author and poets.
Pupils were also treated to a tour of the BBC after the event. They enjoyed lunch in the BBC canteen and had great fun spotting famous faces. They also managed to see the newsroom and the various departments, including BBC Bitesize, which will be familiar to our senior pupils preparing for prelims at the moment.
We would like to thank the Scottish Book Trust for choosing our school to attend this event and to the BBC (especially our excellent guide, Kimberley, who was a font of knowledge about the BBC).
upils recently participated in a writing competition with Young Writers, an organisation which aims to encourage and inspire children to engage in creative writing. Their ‘Welcome to Wonderland’ challenge asked students to write a story about a fictional world using just 100 words. We are delighted to announce that S2 pupils, Kenzie and Jennifer, were successful and their stories will be included in a book which will be published next year. Well done, girls!