LVS Ascot Welcomes Authors And Illustrators To Brilliant Book Week
30 Mar 2016
Authors, illustrators and a cartoonist all made visits to LVS Ascot last week as the school hosted an inspiring Book Week which saw all 870 pupils from Reception class to Year 13 enjoy at least one talk or workshop with a published writer.
Comic book writer John Byrne began the week, themed “A Picture Paints A Thousand Words”, on Monday 29th February with a workshop for pupils in Reception and Years 1 and 2, teaching them the art of drawing a cartoon by sketching Mr Dennis, Senior Master of the Junior School. The video of the sketch coming together can be seen here. John said: “I had a brilliant time doing the cartoon workshops at LVS Ascot and the pupils were a real credit to the school”.
Neill Cameron, a cartoonist and writer who has produced a range of young adult graphic novels and is current artist in residence at The Story Museum in Oxford, gave talks to Years 10 to 13 in a packed school theatre on Wednesday. He also ran a Year 9 workshop where he fed their imaginations by helping students create hybrid characters from random suggestions, and signed copies of his books such as Mo-Bot High and The Pirates Of Pangaea for his delighted young fans at the school.
Comedy writing duo The 2 Steves gave talks to both Junior and Senior School pupils at the independent all-ability school on why writing stories is important, to never give up and how to use your imagination to create fiction. They also announced the results of LVS Ascot’s first ever Book Awards, judged the costume competitions which saw both pupils and staff dressed up in costumes from their favourite books, and signed copies of their own books.
Learning Resource Centre Manager Emma Keeler said: “This was the best Book Week LVS Ascot has ever held, as it had a really positive impact on all of our pupils from 4 years old to 18. Every one of them was able to enjoy access to an author during the week which really emphasised the benefit of being an all-through school. We wanted to encourage reading for pleasure and the part that illustration plays in enhancing that, and through our inspirational guests we definitely achieved that”.
Other events during LVS Ascot Book Week included House Storytelling which saw Years 7 to 9 combining action and narration on stage, House Dodgeball and a literary quiz to test pupils’ knowledge.
Photo: LVS Ascot’s Design and Technology teachers get into the spirit of World Book Day in Peter Pan outfits