Over 200 pupils from all over London and South East attend Trinity Schools Book Awards
22 Apr 2016
Over 200 pupils from all over London and the South East assembled at Trinity School (Croydon) for a major book award ceremony on the theme of Voyages and Journeys. The Trinity Schools Book Awards (TSBA) took place on 9th March in the presence of three well-known children’s authors, Philip Reeve (Mortal Engines), Matt Dickinson (The Everest Files) and Paul Dowswell (Powder Monkey).
The pupils from 15 different schools were asked to vote for their favourite read among those 12 titles selected by the group of 23 leading independent schools in London and the South East, known as the Trinity Schools Group. Two classics proved the winners with The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien chosen for the Junior prize and The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams for the Senior’s.
During a lively panel session hosted by Trinity English Teacher Matt Ryan, the authors answered a host of questions by enthusiastic boys and girls who wanted to know what inspired them to write, whether they wrote about real experiences and whether they had tips about becoming a writer.
Philip Reeve, who wrote Mortal Engines, then presented awards to the boys and girls who were winners of the two TSBA competitions for Best Book Review and Best Creative Response (Junior and Senior categories). Philip Reeve said afterwards: “It was a really pleasurable evening. It’s so great to get into schools and do these sorts of things and I thought the questions were really insightful!”
Trinity pupil, Bashir Olatunji (Year 7) – pictured 3rd from left – said: “I really enjoyed meeting the authors. They said it was never too early to start writing and become a proper writer; I liked that!”
Fellow Year 7 student George Farquharson – pictured 4th from left – added: “I loved how the authors were so candid in their responses. They shared a lot of their experiences with us and it was really interesting.”
Photo (L-R) Authors Charles Dowswell, Philip Reeve, Matt Dickinson with Trinity pupils and Ms Kate Parlain, Trinity librarian.