Friends’ School and Wallace High worked collaboratively recently to celebrate National Children’s Book Week. A series of events was planned by the two neighbouring schools, with the aim of promoting a love of literature.Friends’ School librarian Patricia Browne and Wallace’s Heather Gracey met last June to ensure that an interesting week was had by pupils and staff of both schools.
On National Poetry Day, workshops were held in both schools by local writer Shirley Bork. Shirley, who also runs creative writing classes in the Island Arts Centre, worked with groups of Form Three pupils , encouraging them to write desciptively and let their imaginations flow.
Last Friday saw renowned storyteller Billy Teare, who is currently appearing at the Halifax Traditions Festival, entertaining all Form One pupils from both schools. Billy captured the audience’s imaginations in minutes with his unique brand of wordplay and mimicry.
A busy schedule of competitions and quizzes, along with the opportunity to vote for favourite poems, ensured that the Lisburn students thoroughly enjoyed the week. Year Nine pupils in Friends’ chose the humorous “School is closed today..” as their favourite poem.
National Children’s Book Week also saw the launch of Wallace’s biannual “Read on”, with junior English classes having the opportunity to take part in a sponsored read, thereby raising funds for the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children. The 2001 Read on, organised by teacher librarian Heather Gracey, raised over £ 6000 for the local charity and promoted citizenship and it is hoped that the 2003 event will be equally successful. A similar event took place in Friends’, with teacher Gary Greer organising a book swap and Read on for Year Eight pupils, also in aid of the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children.
Mrs Anne McBride, Principal of Wallace, commented, “In these days of technological advance it is very appropriate to remind ourselves of the value of books in education. This year’s Book Week was a wonderful opportunity for pupils from both schools to engage together in activities which promote literacy and encourage reading, storytelling and creative writing.”
It is hoped that further collaboration between the libraries of the two schools will take place throughout the school year.
Last modified: February 24, 2016
