As part of the latest efforts to promote reading at KEVI, Miss Lambe and the English Department have unveiled the “Extreme Reading Competition”.  We interviewed Miss Lambe about the benefits of this initiative and how to get involved.

• Why did you decide to hold the Extreme Reading Competition?
   
  We believe that reading is both fun and vitally important, and with the success of the Accelerated Reader Scheme (launched at the beginning of 2016), we want to keep reading as a central focus at our school. We are passionate about helping our students develop both their understanding, analysis and enjoyment of texts as well as developing their literacy skills and, we believe that introducing a competition such as this would be very beneficial.
   
  We don’t want people to feel as if reading is a chore, and instead offers a sense of escapism – something they can do in their spare time - and the Extreme Reading competition exists to encourage leisurely reading and to promote it as exciting, thrilling, fun and not just an onerous task that some might see it as.
  
  
• How many other schools are participating, or is this competition exclusive to KEVI?
   
  The Extreme Reading competition is just something being held by our school, open both to our students and staff. It’s important to the English department that both staff and students have an opportunity to get involved and show their love of reading – we have many members of staff and students alike who are avid readers, and this is a great opportunity for them to demonstrate their passion.
  
  
• Can you give us any examples of situations in which people can take an extreme photo?
   
  It could be anything – during a football or rugby match, horse riding, on the way up a mountain, like Mrs Dolloway, or maybe even just somewhere on your holidays – we’re really just looking for photos of reading somewhere unique, special - in a sense radical – somewhere just generally out-of-the-norm. It could be anything from whilst changing a lightbulb to being at the dentist – just somewhere where you wouldn’t expect to see someone reading.
  
  
• What is on offer for those who enter the competition?
   
  There is going to be an overall tutor prize of a Christmas party for the winning tutor group and an overall prize for the best individual student entry. There will be runner-up prizes too and also a prize for best staff entry.
  
  
• When will the result of the competition be announced?
   
  The deadline for this competition is Monday 11th December 2017 and any entries after then will not count. The winner will be announced just before Christmas, in the final week before we break up for the holiday. 
   
  To enter, simply email ([email protected]) or hand in your photo to Miss Lambe in U1.
   
  For updates on the competition and from the English Department, follow them on Twitter: @TeamEnglishKEVI.
   
  Article by Joel Lufton and Chris Austin, Year 10.

King Edward VI High School will be celebrating its love of literacy by organising some fun activities for Roald Dahl Day which takes place on 13th September. To coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of famous children's author, Roald Dahl, the English Department wish to invite all students with a love of reading to join them for a Dahl-icious time in the Library where there will be loads of fun activities and prizes to be won!

Come to the Library on Tuesday lunchtime to find out more and say a big HappyBirthday and thank you to the man who gave us The BFG, The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and much more!

Miss Lambe
Lead Teacher in English

​Accelerated Reader is here! Organised by Mrs Colley you will now read new books in form. As soon as you get into your classroom you will get 15 minutes of reading time before you go to Period 1, as well as encouraging you to read it will also boost your vocabulary and reading age in English lessons. The event will go on until the end of the school year and try and help your reading abilities, after the event the tutor group with the most books read will be able to go on a trip like Alton Towers. Mrs Colley commented: ”The Year 10s are exceeding in this so far whilst many other classes have some catching up to do if they're going to win the prize! I hope you can try harder and win the trip with your tutor group.” If you have finished a book you can go on the Accelerated Reader website in form or your own time and try to complete the quiz set for you.
 
For more details visit the school website at www.kevi.org.uk or see the interview with Mrs Colley about AR on KEVI TV.
 
REPORT BY BEN TRIGG

On the 22nd April 2016 a group of Gifted and Talented students from King Edward VI High School were taken on a trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon to visit the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
When the group arrived they were taken to a room to discuss one of the most well-known and well liked plays by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. Here they talked about many aspects of the play such as the prologue and the scene of Romeo’s death. One of the staff there also acted out a few scenes throughout the discussion, playing the part of Romeo.
After that the group went to the ‘Famous Beyond Words’ Shakespeare exhibition. This was a self-guided tour showcasing many of the objects, documents, books and quotes from Shakespeare’s life, all of which were exploring his social life and relationships in Stratford. This went on to gardens and the Shakespeare birthplace where William was born and raised and ten lived as an adult.
The house showed how Shakespeare would have lived and also displayed many artefacts that Shakespeare would have lived with. One of these items was the original birthing room window. Loads of people who visited when Shakespeare after his death (the earliest date recorded was in 1806) would carve their name and the date they visited into the window so now there are over 100 names carved into the glass.
Around the tour there were many people dressed in clothes of the period who could recount many interesting facts about Shakespeare and his plays as well as quotes and monologues from his work.
Overall it was a very interesting and entertaining day thanks to the teachers who arranged it and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
​
REPORT BY LAUREN MILLS
 

Pupils and staff at King Edward VI High School have been celebrating World Book Day in a special way this year with events in the school library and a school-wide fancy dress day.
World Book Day is a celebration! It’s a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.
Pupils and staff were asked to dress up as their favourite book character all day whilst going to normal lessons. Students at the school certainly went to town with costumes ranging from books such as Harry Potter to 101 Dalmatians, The Hunger Games and even comic book heroes such as Spiderman. 
Organiser and English teacher, Miss Lambe, thanked everyone for their support and to staff and students who each donated £1 to the Readathon charity as the annual Readathon Challenge launches next week. 
Activities were held in the school library including games and competitions and the English Department judged which costumes were the most impressive. 
​Interviews, footage and further details will be available on the new KEVI TV channel which launches soon. 

King Edward VI High School has won the top prize at a local arts competition after submitting entries in poetry and art into a local exhibition.

Abigail Cox-Voyle and Emily Bromley (Year 8) won the Green Star Award for their artwork with Maye Williams and Angel Bailey gaining a Highly Commended. In the poetry category, Rosie Bevans picked up the top award in her age category with Matthew Wright as runner-up and Stacey Nicholas highly commended. 

‘There is No Planet B!’ is Stafford’s popular, annual ‘Green Arts Festival’.  The event encourages people of all ages and abilities to exhibit artwork of any form that inspires concern and respect for our planet. Artwork might include paintings, collages, models, sculptures, photographs, mobiles and ceramics, posters and poems all helping us show the world how much we care for our precious, one and only, Planet A.
 
This year our school has joined the Stafford Borough Eco-Schools Network and has taken part in Art Workshops and the art work and poetry that those workshops inspired are on display in St Chad’s Church in Stafford.  All of the art work in the festival in on display in St Chad’s from 10am to 4pm each day until Saturday 5th March.
 
Headteacher, Mr Christey, congratulated the students on their success, "What an achievement for them all and well-deserved of their awards. The school is very proud of them". 

A big thank you to Mr Johnson and his talented group of poets and to Mrs Kelly and Miss Shepard for all their work in supporting the students to take part in the Arts Festival.
 
More information on the Festival can be found at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/there-is-no-planet-b or there is a Facebook page called There is No Planet B Stafford.

It's Readathon time again where all Year 7 and 8 will spend two weeks reading for sponsorship as well as boosting their own literacy skills.

Students may read anything (fiction/ non fiction books, newspapers, magazines etc) as long as it is age and content appropriate. They can read as much as they like at home and during allocated times at school but must remember to record everything they have read on their given Readathon cards, as they will use these to evidence reading and collect any sponsorship money later on.

Students will be given time to read their books at the beginning of each lesson for two weeks from 7th March to 18th March. Students will also be reading during all registration times as part of the Accelerated Reader programme and this can contribute towards their Readathon sponsorship also.

All money raised for Readathon goes towards helping support severely sick children and we hope to raise as much as possible again this year for extremely worthwhile causes.

For more information, speak to Miss Lambe or visit www.readathon.org.​

The Library staff have launched a "Big Quiz" for students to get the most out of the school library. To take part, all you have to do is come down to the Library at breaktime or lunchtime. It is 30p per entry and the highest scorer will win a prize. The closing date for entries is 12th February, so don't hang about!

For more information see Mrs Arthur or Mrs Rogers.

Love reading? Can you help a child love reading too? 1 in 8 children in England left primary school last year behind in their reading. Beanstalk urgently need volunteer reading helpers to support children in our school. Our volunteers have a love of reading AND a commitment to helping children to read 3 hours per week for 12 months. It’s incredibly rewarding and can make a great difference to a child’s life. 

Start your journey today! Contact the local office of Beanstalk on 01782 827375 or visit www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk.

Pupils in Year 7 have been given the opportunity to take part in a creative writing competition by the English Department.
Pupils who love creative writing are in with a chance of winning a signed copy of Lauren Child's latest novel "Look Into My Eyes". 
To enter, students need to write their own short story between 250 and 500 words on any topic they like. It can be handwritten or typed. 
All entries must be submitted to their English teacher by Thursday 10th July. For more information speak to your English teacher or Mrs Brough. Good luck!