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ayfield found some inspiring and fun ways to take part in World Book Day on 7th March. The Day


is a worldwide celebration of reading set up by a partnership of publishers, booksellers and other interested parties and is marked in over 100 countries. In the UK, a main aim of the event is to encourage children to read more.


Author Cathy Brett visits the school


C


athy spoke to Year 7 and 8 girls on Friday 8th March as part of the School’s activities to celebrate World Book


Day. She described how she became involved in writing after initially training as an artist. She illustrated other people's books before trying to write and illustrate her own. Having had a prior career in fashion design, she had experience of the teenage market and started to develop her drawing to represent some of the quirky characters she had met while teaching art.


Cathy talked to the girls about how she manipulates the font and layout of the printed words in her books to emphasise important or emotional moments in the plot. She explained how she combines her visual technique with language to create her desired effect.


Asked about the talk afterwards, Charlotte Cluff, Year 7, said: ‘It was really interesting. She talked about how she became a writer and about her books. We all benefitted from the talk.’


The girls then brainstormed some ideas about their own observations of their morning so far. Cathy told them to take these ideas and use their imaginations to transform the ordinary events into an extraordinary story. The girls created their work using both words and pictures, just as Cathy does in her books. They really enjoyed this activity. Eleanor Knight, Year 7, said: ‘We all learned something creative which will help us when story-writing in the future.’


School Librarian Julie Gabriel says: ‘There was a buzz of creativity as the girls used both words and drawings to illustrate their stories, while Cathy walked around the tables offering encouragement. Those girls who were brave enough read out their stories to the group. Cathy said the standard was so high that it was difficult to judge. She asked the girls to nominate a winner and they voted for Katie White in Year 8. Katie was the lucky recipient of a proof copy of Cathy Brett’s new book which will be published later this year. Everything is Fine (and Other Lies I Tell Myself).’


The visit ended with Cathy chatting to the girls and signing books for those girls who had permission to buy.


All the girls enjoyed the event. Sofia Larios, Year 8, found it inspiring: ‘It was really interesting to see how Cathy Brett got from being a fashion designer to a writer,’ she says. ‘I really enjoyed seeing her pictures and drawing and hearing about her books.’


O


n World Book Day, girls in Lower School came in dressed as characters from their favourite books


(and brought in a £1 donation for Book Aid International). Book Aid International is a charity that ‘increases access to books and supports literacy, education and development in Sub-Saharan Africa.’ Last year it ‘provided 543,280 new books to over 2,000 libraries and (has) sent more than 30 million books to partner libraries since 1954.’


The characters chosen by the girls were from both classic and modern fiction, ranging from Oliver Twist to The Hunger Games. Headmistress Antonia Beary was joined by two prefects, Elinor Bushell and Charlotte Wright to help judge the competition. Although it was an incredibly difficult decision, the judges awarded prizes of a book and a choice of sweets or bookmarks to the following:


Year 7 – Individual prize Scarlet Wilson - Mr Gum (Mr Gum)


Year 7 – Group prize Harriet Wadey and Sally Franks– Miss Havisham and Estella (Great Expectations)


Year 7 – Group prize Amy Gallagher and Felicity Reynolds – Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)


Year 8 – Individual prize Chloe Bolger– Charlotte (Charlotte’s Web)


Year 8 – Group prize Dulcie Loveland and Hermione Richards– Charlie and Tommo (Private Peaceful)


Year 8 – Group prize Chelsea Henshaw, Megan White, Davina Thomas, Olivia Larsson, Maria Cook and Sofia Larios– Charlie Bucket, Willy Wonka, Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee, Veruca Salt (Charlie And The Chocolate Factory)


A


Red Nose Day sparks spontaneous gift!


fter watching the Red Nose Day television coverage on Saturday 16th March, girls


from Year 9 led by Sofi de la Torre and Julieta de Muller (with help from Ana Berron, Paloma Ramirez, Alice del Marmol, Jimena Gonzalez Salido, and Katharine Burkart), went around the whole of Connelly Boarding House collecting spare change from the girls. In one evening they collected £101.65!


5


Dressing up in Lower School


Book Mayfield Day at


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World


LEARNED


CREATIVE... SOMETHING


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