Book Week 2011

The autumn term at St Bede’s Prep can only mean one thing – the return of Book Week! As always, the school buzzed with the excitement of this annual extravaganza. This year, Book Week followed the theme of The Olympics and as usual there were the mass of competitions, the challenging Treasure Hunt and the ever-popular Book Character Fashion Show, along with visits from famous authors.

Kit Wright, the larger than life poet, (and at 6ft 8 inches he really was rather large!) gave a lively performance to children in Years 3, 4 and 5. Chris Powling, a very accomplished author and story-teller with over 90 published works to his name, performed to Years 6 and 7, and his harrowing tale of The Blade is probably still giving some of us nightmares! Year 8 had the treat of listening to an outstanding lecture by the author Christopher Lloyd and even hard –to-please teachers said that it was the best talk they had heard in a very long time!

The Treasure Hunt proved to be very challenging this year and for days the school was filled with both children and staff searching in every nook and cranny for the hidden Gold, Silver and Bronze books, in keeping with our Olympic theme. After many days of searching, and with the eventual helping hand of a few clues, the Bronze book was found by Hannah Fowler from Year 8, the Silver Book by Alistair Orr from Year 6 and the Gold Book by Bea Hemmings from Year 8.

A series of quizzes and small competitions ran all week in the Library and many children were awarded prizes but the big, week-long competition – a very difficult literary challenge – was eventually won by just one lucky boy: Harry Tait from Year 7. He will enjoy a spending spree in Waterstone’s Book Store, followed by a slap-up lunch at Rumblebelly’s Restaurant with a friend.

It was a very successful week and gave everyone the opportunity to celebrate the wonder of books. Keep reading, everyone!

Gail Brundle
Head of English