With various on-going initiatives designed to spark students’ interest in books, staff have come up with their own ways to develop a reading culture at TCA. Miss Anderson has got creative with her tutor group and has put together a display at the front of her classroom of who’s reading what.

Anyone looking for inspiration can check out Miss Robinson’s recommended winter reads for a dose of escapism during the dark, cold evenings:

There will also be some new reads available in the library soon, with the arrival of the shortlisted books in the Costa Children’s Book Awards:

• Asha & the Spirit Bird by Jasbinder Bilan 
• Crossfire by Malorie Blackman
• In the Shadow of Heroes by Nicholas Bowling 
• Furious Thing by Jenny Downham 

Miss Robinson is also promoting BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words competition, which launches on January 16^th.

The short story-writing competition is open to children aged 5 to 13, with entrants challenged to pen an original story of no more than 500 words, on a subject of their choice.

The entry form will be available here from January 16^th.