Proud to Use Accelerated Reader!

It's been a great start to this academic year in the library.  

Now that we are an Accelerated Reader school, our bookworms have been able to take their love of books and all things literary to a whole new level.  As well as enjoying the worlds created between the pages and adding to their vocabularies at the same time, they are able to measure and monitor progress and work towards specific goals and targets that will prove how great for their brains all that reading is!

Each of the books in our brand new Accelerated Reader section of the library is assigned its own book level, so that students can choose books within their range and be appropriately challenged.  Once they have read and enjoyed, they will sit a ten-question test on the book to show how well they understood it.  Once they pass with flying colours a certain number of points (depending on the level and length of the book) will be added to their running total.

Each student has been set their own, personalised target for the term, and some are already well on the way towards meeting it!  The top five students from each year group have had their names added to a special display in the library, and at the end of term certificates will be handed out to those who've made the best progress and efforts.

Well done to all our readers who are taking full advantage of this opportunity to maximise their potential by keeping their reading records up to date, reading every day and always remembering to bring in their reading book - keep it up!

Access All Areas

You already know that here in the library we have subscriptions to a range of magazines, newspapers and periodicals, so that you can come in and browse the latest developments in science, business and culture, or keep abreast of current affairs, during your free time.

But did you know that we also have access to the extensive archives of the magazines we subscribe to?  Well, we do.  And this is fantastic news, particularly for those of us that might like to use these in our research for projects, presentations and assignments.  The major bonus of these is that, as well as the fact that they allow us to read articles from the entire history of the publication, they are also fully searchable.  Simply type in what you are looking for and, hey presto, you will be shown every article they have relating to that topic.  Just like Google but with much more reliable, fully verified, high quality material. 

Here are the archives we currently have access to:

New Scientist

Great for students of science and ICT, but also for humanities subjects like geography, business and psychology, this magazine contains news on all the latest developments and discoveries in science and technology.  Access it through this link

http://www.newscientist.com/

Username: library@swansschool.net           Password:  swanslibrary

Scientific American

Having published its first issue in 1845, this is the longest running publication in the US, and counts Albert Einstein among its previous contributors!  Invaluable for sciences and humanities.  Access it on this link:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/

Username: library@swansschool.net           Password: swanslibrary

Bloomberg Businessweek

Containing a wealth of information on business, economics and technology, and therefore a rich resource for students doing any projects in these areas.  Access it on this link:

http://www.bloomberg.com/europe

No username or password required.

Time Magazine

Time magazine is one of the most read weekly news magazines in the world.  Being a news magazine it contains a huge range of articles and is therefore worth searching for projects in a huge range of disciplines – sciences, art, history, geography, media studies as well as English and other humanities subjects.  Access it on this link:

http://time.com/vault/

Username: library@swansschool.net   Password:  swanslibrary2015

Muy Historia

We have yet to receive our first print edition of this Spanish language magazine, but we can already access its fully searchable website, which is a great resource for students of lengua, SFL, conocimiento del medio and socials.  Access it on this link:

http://www.muyhistoria.es/

No username or password required.

L’Express

Our first French language publication will soon arrive in the library, but in the meantime you can browse content on its fantastic searchable website via this link:

http://www.lexpress.fr/

No username or password required.

More titles, including National Geographic, are coming soon.

So do take a look today!  Whether you are researching school work or just looking for something to read that will broaden your mind and keep you in touch (as well as developing your reading skills!) these subscriptions open up a whole world of possibilities.

Book Week 2015

This year’s Book Week went off with a literary bang as always.

Students started the week by considering the books that they think everyone should read before they die, in the first round of voting for the Swans Book-It List.  With so much top notch YA fiction around these days it was a tough call, but a clear top ten of favourites was revealed in time for the second ballot which took place later in the week.  With all votes counted and verified, our eventual winner was the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth.  Here in the library we weren’t too surprised since these books are never on our shelves, this despite the fact that many students own personal copies!  We will be writing to the author of this exciting trilogy to make her aware of our choice and (who knows?) she may even reply.

On Tuesday, students took part in “Guess the Teacher’s Favourite Book” which pitted Kestrel against Hawk against Falcon against Eagle in Book Week’s first ever house competition.  Fourteen teachers wore clues to their favourite books and all students had to do was figure them out.  But there was a hidden catch… with so many to find and only one day to do it in, was it even possible?  On your own - certainly not; but in a house team – piece of cake!  It was the Falcons that were the eventual victors having seen that this challenge was as much about teamwork as it was being well-read – well done to them.

Wednesday saw students walk away with something new for their shelves in our second annual book swap, and on Thursday, students from Year 7 had the honour of meeting successful author Lorraine Mace who came in to read to them from her novel “Vlad the Inhaler” and also have a chat about the writing process in general.  The keenest writers of Year 10 also had the opportunity to meet Lorraine, who writes crime fiction under the name Frances Di Plino, and she gave them a writing workshop on the importance of characterisation and dialogue in fiction.  Such a thrill for all involved to meet a real writer and learn more about books from an insiders’ perspective.

On Friday the library launched this year’s reading challenge – Book Bingo – which challenges students to read a range of fiction in order to complete their grid.  This will continue until the end of the academic year with various prizes for form groups and individuals who meet their targets.  Game cards are available from the library now.

The best part of Book Week, however, is always the final assembly which takes place on Friday afternoon.  The book trailers that KS3 students have spent the past few weeks working hard on had been whittled down to the finalists, which were screened in front of a panel of judges (and the whole student body) so that a top three could be selected.  The standard this year was EXCEPTIONALLY high, but well done to the winning team who produced a chilling and original tribute to their source material.  KS4 students were challenged to create a mini movie inspired by Jekyll and Hyde and the finalists were startling thoughtful and original, with our eventual winner creating an animation (single-handedly) that managed to be frightening and moving in equal measures, not unlike the original story.  Well done to all.

The Spelling Bee was a truly epic battle, with the whole audience literally on the edge of our seats and the two strongest competitors taking it right down to the wire with their ninja-like spelling capabilities!  It was anyone’s game until propiety  propietry propriety finally stumped our close runner-up (and a fiendishly tricky one it is too!).  Excellent spelling is SUCH a valuable (and underrated) skill and we are fiercely proud of all the competitors in the Bee this year, especially having seen their feverish rate of revision in the library first hand!

So that’s it for another year.  But don’t despair - because, as we know, every week is Book Week as far as the English department and the library are concerned.  So keep reading, keep enjoying, keep discussing, keep sharing, keep on taking journeys to amazing and unexpected places without even having to leave your sofa. (AND KEEP GETTING YOUR READING RECORD SIGNED!)

PS If you have any ideas or suggestions for Book Week 2016, please leave them in the comments below.

“So Much Universe, So Little Time”

Acclaimed fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett died yesterday, aged 66, after a battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. 

He was the author of seventy books, and had been translated into thirty-four languages in a career spanning forty four years. 

If you have yet to discover his amazing books, please give them a try!

In his own words:

“Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind.  It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.”

Farewell to one of the legends of modern British literature – he will be missed.

There will be a display of his books in the library, or follow these links to learn more about the man himself:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/12/terry-pratchett-in-quotes-15-of-the-best

Call For (Original) Submissions

It has been great to see the broad range of articles that have been coming in for the next issue of Pulse magazine, but we need more!

We would love to see well written articles on any subject whatsoever.  It really couldn’t be easier – just tell us something you know about, something you do, something you love.  If you’re doing an interesting project at school, write an article about it.  If you have a cool hobby, tell us about it.  If you have a favourite celebrity, tell us why you think they’re great.

There are no rules!  No, actually, wait, that's a lie, because there is one - just one - and this is it:

THE ARTICLE MUST BE ALL YOUR OWN WORK!

It worries and saddens us here in the library to see the number of articles we are receiving that are copied straight from the internet.  This is not smart, and it is also pretty obvious when you do it.  The internet is great, we all love it and we all accept that it has revolutionised our ability to access information.  But we need to make sure we are using it as a tool to inform ourselves, to learn about our world and to open our minds to new discoveries.  If we start seeing it as a quick fix, as a way to be lazy or as a substitute to our own creativity, we are heading down a bad road.

We in the library think Swans students are great.  They are FULL of ideas and energy and curiosity – we see that in many different ways every single day.  So show us your originality, your individuality – give us the truly unique take on the world we know you have.

Email your completely original submission for the next issue of Pulse magazine to library@swansschool.net.

Another Blind Date With a Book

Back by popular demand!  This February, the library is yet again offering readers the opportunity to go on a Blind Date with a Book.

The whole idea is to introduce our readers to a book they might never have chosen for themselves, to open their eyes to new literary possibilities.

Simply come into the library and browse our selection of mystery books, looking for someone to love them.  Check one out and take it home.  You never know, you just might fall in love with it!

A Festive Delivery

Over the Christmas holidays we had a rather special delivery… lots of lovely brand new books! And who do we have to thank for this sack of goodies?  No, not Santa; instead it is our own Year 6 students who have given us this festive treat.

Having ordered lots of books for themselves from the Scholastic Book Club, Year 6 students earned credit to be spent on books for the school library, and we used it to to buy many sought-after brand new titles such as:

L. Pichon’s Tom Gates series

The World of Norm series

Cressida Cowell’s How To Train Your Dragon series

Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles

Lois Lowry’s The Giver series

Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries

Guinness World Records 2015

And many more!

Thank you so much to everyone in Year 6 for spending your money so wisely and bringing benefits to us all.  The next round of book club orders will be happening this term and we are hoping to offer this service to Year 7 too, so make sure when the time comes you get your orders in.  Not only will you benefit from fantastic, new, high quality books, but the library will too.

Winners all round!