Happy New Year to those in our Edge Grove community who have been celebrating the Lunar New Year. You can find an excellent selection of books aimed at younger readers in EYFS and KS1 here that help bring the festival to life for those who have not had the pleasure of celebrating themselves! https://www.booksfortopics.com/booklists/seasonal-events/chinese-new-year/
Last week we had two remarkable events that helped bring learning alive in the classroom for older children in Years 5 to 8. On Wednesday, Deputy Head Richard Stanley shared his reflections on Growing Up Under Apartheid. When themes in children’s reading are supported and made real by the voices of people that they know, learning is all the more meaningful and memorable. You can read about Mr Stanley’s talk in the article written by Devan in the School Journalists’ section of the newsletter.
For younger siblings in school interested in understanding the Apartheid regime, the book entitled The Soccer Fence by Phil Bildner for 6-8 years olds is a powerful read.
Last Friday, in another powerful presentation, Years 5-8 were privileged to hear Judith Hayman from Generation-2-Generation share her immediate family’s survival story as Jews escaping the Holocaust. Judith recommended the book Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter, and I have bought two copies for the main library which should arrive and be catalogued ready for borrowing in the next fortnight.
Another book, published just last week, is Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield for 8-12 years. This is a retelling for children of the Sunday Times bestselling, ‘The Boy Who Followed his Father into Auschwitz’ and is already setting the children’s literature scene alight. Once I have read it, it too will be in the library.
I spend much of my free time reading children’s literature, partly so that I can recommend books to children and partly because there is so much richness to be found in novels written for young people. My most recent read has been the classic, The Cay, by Theodore Taylor which won eleven awards when published in the USA in 1969, and was lauded for promoting positive race relations in a country living with memories of segregation. The book is appropriate for able readers in Year 5+ and is a perfect parallel text to Kensuke’s Kingdom telling of a boy’s fight for survival as a castaway. Racial tension within the story would also resonate with year 6 readers who would see reflections of their learning about inequality and racism from their study of Naidoo’s Journey to Jo’Burg.
In a recent interview with Mr Balfour, school journalists heard him share just how important reading was for him. You can hear his answer about 5m 30s into the interview which is found here in full.
Mr Balfour quotes his inspirational English teacher who said: ‘Reading gives you the chance to experience life without getting hurt” and goes on to add, “there’s a huge amount you can learn about the values and experiences of other people and those great minds who’ve written.” It is wonderful to have in Mr Balfour, a Head who champions and values reading.
We have a range of books in the main library for children who would like to learn more about being anti-racist.
Finally, I am in the process of choosing more books for readers in Years 1-4 to augment the books we have in our reading schemes. It is a constant process of reflection and renewal, in order to ensure that children across the school have access to quality books that challenge, engage and motivate. Parents should see more new books coming home after half term when orders have come in and have been made ready for borrowing.
Don't forget to check out what our Edge Grove School Journalists have been up to this week here.
