Mad Millionaires

Our first individual millionaire claimed victory (and the 50 euro jackpot) a couple of weeks ago – very well done and huge congratulations to Jasmijn De Grebber in Year 8, who really put in the hours while also enjoying the huge benefits of avid reading.  She has been followed into the illustrious millionaires’ club by Ekaterina Fortova (also in Year 8) and will soon be joined by a few more students who have devoured books from our collection over these past months and have no doubt improved their language skills and given their imaginations a good work out while they were about it!  Participating students have now read almost ten million words between them and should keep it up - library VIP cards and early lunch passes are still up for grabs.

Individuals will be rewarded with their prizes during an upcoming assembly, while the winners of the form challenge have already enjoyed the fruits of their labours at their Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in the library (see picture).  A great time was had by all with iced tea, cakes, little sandwiches, music, silly hats and a special library treasure hunt to pass the time.  8TJ enjoyed the party immensely and were worthy winners – the library has been grateful of their enthusiasm and support all year, and hopes that this will continue.

The Great Swans Novel

Back in Book Week, the library posed a question... what would happen if we, as a student body, tried to write a novel, with no plan, on the hoof, in just 5 days?

The answer hits our shelves this week in the form of our first self-published extended piece of fiction, a wild and crazy ride entitled “The Surreal Adventures of Casper, Peppa, Batman, Leonardo Di Caprio and Barack Obama”.  It won´t be winning the Booker Prize, but it´s actually a pretty good read!

It was written during breaktimes and lunchtimes over the course of Book Week, with students dropping in during their spare time and adding to an ongoing narrative.  In many ways it was an experiment in collective writing, a way to develop the creativity and English language skills of our students in a fun and casual way.

The result is a totally abstract piece, covering every genre from crime to romance to horror to thriller and even taking in aspects of graphic novel.  At times it veered into stream-of-consciousness; at others played with the constructs of reality in a way that was refreshing and interesting and humorous.  

Some teachers have seen advanced copies and all have been impressed with the obvious talent and enthusiasm on display in what has been described as a true piece of “gonzo” fiction.  This term, first coined in the 1970s by Hunter S Thompson, describes a crazy, eccentric and spontaneous form of literature which favours style over accuracy, shunning the ‘polished’ edited product for a more gritty approach, and making liberal use of sarcasm, humour and exaggeration. 

The novel is available to be read in the library now, and contributors can collect their very own copy to keep.  Well done to all the Swans School writers (and illustrator), and who knows what the future holds for our artists’ collective?