Check out our new eBook service! While you can’t access our school library at the minute, we are keen to offer you every opportunity to keep reading. Reading has many benefits. As well as helping with your school work and improving concentration by exercising your brain, reading can increase empathy, reduce stress and improve sleep! Click the link to start browsing and read the information on your library Google Classroom about logging in and downloading the handy app. https://killicomaine.eplatform.co
Following the fantastic assembly from Dave Linton of Madlug this morning, the winner of our star prize in the Twelve Days of Christmas event(drawn randomly by Mrs. Cordner) is ……..
Today is day two of our library Twelve Days of Christmas competition. Pupils don’t need to do anything but if they quizzed on Accelerated Reader in November then they could be a winner. Twelve days, twelve winners.
Winners will be announced every morning. And today’s winner is …….
Friday was the first day of our library Twelve Days of Christmas competition. If you quizzed during November then you could be a winner. Twelve days, twelve winners.
From Monday 22nd November, all 100% AR quizzes and all reviews left on Eclipse will count towards ‘stars’ for form classes.
Between now and 10th December these will be recorded and the class with the highest number of stars by Friday 10th December will win a special class treat.
Anti-Bullying Week 2021: One Kind Word
Anti-Bullying Week takes place from 15 to 19 November 2021 and it has the theme One Kind Word.
Kindness is more important today than it has ever been. The isolation of the last year has underlined how little acts of consideration can break down barriers and brighten the lives of the people around us. This is one of the reasons, that ‘One Kind Word’ has been chosen as the theme of Anti-Bullying Week taking place from 15 to 19 of November 2021.
Following the success of the campaign in 2020 – when a jaw-dropping 80% of schools marked the week reaching over 7.5 million children and young people – the Anti-Bullying Alliance (which coordinates the campaign each year in England and Wales) asked over 400 young people, teachers, and parents, what they wanted from this year’s Anti-Bullying Week. Again and again, the young and not-so-young told us they wanted anti-bullying work to be about hope and the positive and kind things we can do to halt hurtful behaviour in its tracks.
Ask if someone’s OK. Say you’re sorry. Just say hey.
In a world that can sometimes feel like it’s filled with negativity, one kind word can provide a moment of hope. It can be a turning point. It can change someone’s perspective. It can change their day. It can change the course of a conversation and break the cycle of bullying.
Best of all, one kind word leads to another. Kindness fuels kindness. So from the playground to Parliament, and from our phones to our homes, together, our actions can fire a chain reaction that powers positivity.
It starts with one kind word. It starts today.
The Song From Somewhere Else
A.F. Harrold & Levi Pinfold
A dark and unusual story, edged with humour, about family relationships and an unlikely friendship. As a child discovers a secret, she is compelled to make a difficult choice about whether to betray someone she didn’t ever expect to be friends with. Frank is strong, brave and wistful in the face of her tormentors with her anxieties expressed through vivid stomach-churning moments, such as when a gang suspends her over a patch of stinging nettles. Frank’s surprising empathy for the bully is a great starting point for discussion: “She would have been lying if she had denied that a tiny corner of her heart celebrated at the sight of him diminished and broken, but she wasn’t proud of it”.
Levi Pinfold’s haunting illustrations profoundly add to the intrigue and mood of the story.
Cloud Busting
Malorie Blackman
Written in different forms of poetry and told as a flashback, this is a heart-wrenching story that offers many possibilities for engagement and discussion. Dealing with themes of bullying, courage, unlikely friendships, loyalty and betrayal, this book explores a child’s ability to perceive everyday experiences in a multi-sensory way.
The Boy in the Dress
David Walliams
12-year-old Dennis lives with his older brother John and their Dad. Dennis misses his mother, who has left them. When Dennis experiments with dressing in girls’ clothes and even goes to school in a dress, he is taunted and teased by the other children and expelled by the Head Teacher. Playing in a football match wearing a dress, rather than his usual football kit, gets him seen in a different light and his story turns a corner. A light-hearted story exploring family relationships, freedom of choice and tolerance of difference.
Wonder
R.J. Palacio
August Pullman (Auggie) has a severe facial deformity and is home-educated until the age of 10, when he begins to attend school. The story is not just told from Auggie’s perspective, but also through the eyes of his family and friends – following his fears and challenges as he comes to terms with other children’s reactions to his appearance. It’s an emotional journey and a superb book to start discussions about accepting people for who they are, empathy and the importance of friendships.
Bad Girls
Jacqueline Wilson & Nick Sharratt
Mandy is 10 and bullied at school, but finds friendship with an older, streetwise girl who is being fostered by a neighbour. Tanya is 14 and always seems to be in trouble. Mandy’s overprotective parents are not keen on their friendship. This story sensitively deals with issues of friendships, family relationships, loyalty and acceptance.
On the 11th November, we remember and honour the men and women from all wars who have served.
Books are a fantastic way to educate children about the significance of these historical events. Here are some brilliant, thought-provoking books we’ve hand-picked to get children reading for Remembrance Day:
Michael Morpurgo
Michael Morpurgo is a master storyteller, weaving captivating stories full of drama and intensity that are coming to be regarded as true classics.
Morpurgo teams up with master illustrator Michael Foreman to bring you a stunning new wartime classic, created in partnership with the Royal British Legion.
This powerful, timely book explores the First World War and the origin of the poppy as a symbol of peace and remembrance.
By one of Australia’s best-loved children’s writers, the Once series is a moving World War Two saga capturing a child’s resilience in the face of horror.
One of the most heartbreaking tales you’ll ever read, powerful but at the same time sweet and funny.
Now is one of the best times to make sure you’re getting your daily reading for pleasure!
The benefits of daily pleasure reading are huge:
You’ll almost certainly reduce stress.
Being carried away into the world in a book helps you take a break. It gives what you’re learning a chance to consolidate and settle.
It will help you get to sleep more quickly if you use it to calm your mind before bed.
Daily reading for pleasure in teenagers is associated with higher grades and greater success.
Read what you want, something you can get carried away by, something that will let you escape for a while to another world. it’s medicine for the soul.Reading for pleasure is not a luxury:You’ll come back feeling better and better able to face exams!
We had some amazing entries for our Great Pumpkin Contest. Well done to everyone who took the time to enter and winners will be announced when we return to school. Happy Half Term everyone!
Killicomaine Library 