Curriculum
Author Visits and Shows to Watch
JIM CARRINGTON
13 March 2012
Jim Carrington, author of three books for older teenagers, spent the afternoon with students from S9G and R9G, to discuss his work.
Jim’s books are very realistic and are based on his own experiences as a teenager in Norfolk.
The three books: Inside My Head, In The Bag and most recently published Drive By are highly recommended.
World Book Day
1 March 2012
THE CHAINSAW GANG AUTHOR VISIT
Four leading children's authors came to Forest Hill School on World Book Day, Thursday 1 March 2012 -
Sarwat Chadda, Steve Feasey, Stephen Deas and Bryony Pearce.
They met a group of 75 students and discussed stories and writing.
The World Book Day website has a free app you can download as well as lots of interesting links and games.
RADIO 1XTRA BROADCAST
Also on World Book Day, Radio 1Xtra DJ Sarah-Jane Crawford revisited her old school, Sydenham School, for a special broadcast and some of our students participated in the Reading Club discussion.
They were joined by MC rapper Wretch 32, aka Jermaine Scott, who spoke with passion about writing lyrics and how reading enriches his work.
Leon Salmon, Mohammad Hussain and Joshua Correia, all Forest Hill Year 10 students from D10G, represented the school brilliantly and Josh was chosen to help interview Wretch.
Perry Newman, D9F, shadowed the Radio 1Xtra production team who were so impressed they have invited him to spend some time at the BBC studios to learn more about radio show engineering.
You can listen to the broadcast here.
MARCUS ALEXANDER
2 February 2012
Marcus Alexander, author of the new fantasy series Keeper of the Realms, met with Year 7 and 8 students to discuss his writing.
Marcus explained how his travels around the world have given him his ideas for different parts of the plot, including a new dance/combat art form K’changa used by book characters.
The session was very lively with a small demonstration of possible K’changa moves with Marcus, who is a trained martial arts instructor.
DAVID LOGAN
18 January 2012
David Logan, author of Lost Christmas and screenplay writer visited us and met with a small group of students to talk about his work as a writer. David writes for television and film companies and is planning a new book trilogy for young people to be published in 2013.
JEFF KINNEY
2 December 2011
On Friday 2 December we hosted Diary of a Wimpy Kid author, Jeff Kinney and he brought surprise guests with him – Robert Capron who plays Rowley and Zachary Gordon who plays Greg Hefley in the films of the books.
The Ken Kirkby Theatre was at bursting point with fans of the books from our Years 7 and 8 and students from Sydenham School. The show was digitally streamed live on to the internet and was watched by people from around the world. Questions were asked by the theatre audience and were sent in online from the internet audience.
The show is now available to watch at www.jeffkinneyvirtuallylive.co.uk
RUTA SEPETYS
4 November 2011
Ruta Sepetys, author of Between shades of gray was with us on Friday 4th November for a cross-borough event which was also attended by students from Sydenham School, Sedgehill School, Prendergast Ladywell Fields College and Bonus Pastor RC School. The book is shortlisted in the Lewisham Book Award for older readers this year and so we invited students from other Lewisham schools to participate in the session.
Ruta held the audience spellbound for an hour while she told them the story behind the writing of the book. Ruta spoke with passion and we all found it very moving. As Omar Edwards in Year 9 said ‘I listened very carefully to every word’. ‘I read the book but this really explained about the family history in detail’ said Chris Saraiva in Year 9. ‘It was very interesting to hear another side of the Second World War. It was interesting to hear about someone’s work in the music and computer games industry and then how they became an author too.’ said Jack Walker, Year 9.
‘We are four girls from Sydenham School who went to see your presentation at Forest Hill School on 4th November. We have all read your book and can’t put into words how much we enjoyed it and how much it moved us. It really revealed a part of the Second World War that we had never heard of and would probably never hear if it were not for you and your book. We found your presentation inspiring and it made us realise that there is more to everything if you can be dedicated to what you are aiming for.’ Tabitha, Katie, Livia and Katherine (Sydenham School).
Between shades of gray has just been longlisted for the Carnegie Medal Book Award!
CHARLIE HIGSON
31 October 2011
The brilliant Charlie Higson came to Forest Hill School on Monday 31 October 2011 to film a live broadcast - Halloween Virtually Live - a spooky journey through the history of horror.
You can view the broadcast or download the podcast at www.charliehigsonvirtuallylive.co.uk
Morris Gleitzman
September 2011
Representatives of H9G were invited to meet with Morris Gleitzman. They studied his book Once in Year 8 with Ms Simmons and this was an unmissable opportunity to meet a top author who visits the United Kingdom from Australia once a year.
‘We found out that this holocaust story is rooted in Morris’s own family history.’ The Gleitzman family were based in Poland and Morris’s grandfather left for England before the war and as a result was the only surviving member. Morris has done a lot of research to trace what happened to his Jewish relatives who remained behind and finally managed to locate some graves.' – George Mihalop
‘Morris told us how he plans his writing in detail before he begins to draft his story. When he starts writing he might begin by doing only 2 hours a day but when it is in full flow this can sometimes mean writing for 10-12 hours a day.’ Jack Phillips
‘He is planning a fourth book for this series, called After and it will be set back in the forties again.’ Brandon Cross
‘I liked the story he told us about when he was ten years old and thought because he was the best footballer in his street he would become a top professional, until a new boy arrived who was so much better. It made him realise that there was a whole other universe of talent out there. So he decided perhaps writing would be the thing for him.’ Chris Shears
‘Felix, in Once, Then and Now is a younger version of Morris. I liked how he talked about the characters existing in his memory and becoming a part of him.’ Jack Barry
‘It was interesting to hear how authors also have to run a business. Morris writes for eight months of the year and spends four months on the business of contracts and promotions.’ Stefan Dunstan
‘Morris is a wonderful speaker. He really took his time to answer the boys’ questions in detail. Best outcome - they all want to read more of his books.’ Ms Webb
Meg Rosoff Visit - Tuesday 20 September
Meg Rosoff visited our school to talk about her new book There is no dog.
She told us about her life, how she came to London from New York as a young person and eventually developed a career as a writer.
Student and staff comments had much in common with many declaring it to be, ‘Brilliant’, ‘Really good, I must have that book’ and ‘It spoke to my heart’.
MEG ROSOFF
July 2011
A group of Year 8 students had the opportunity to meet acclaimed author Meg Rosoff.
"We met with Meg Rosoff and discussed her latest book There Is No Dog. Before the meeting the students all read one of her books each and they were able to engage in a high level discussion about the writer’s craft. They all did brilliantly and I felt very proud of them." – Ms Webb
The students really seemed to enjoy meeting Meg Rosoff.
"She had a really good sense of humour, you read her book and got a sense of her personality so when you met her it all made sense." - Ryan O'Halloran S8G
"She is so down-to-earth, I thought authors are usually posh." - Tyler Smart S8G
"Quite controversial, very much her own feelings and personal thinking." - Rudi Clayton R8F
"Funny, thoughtful, great reading. I think she is going to be one of my favourite authors, different from other writers, loved the idea of God as a teenager. And she loves Once which is my favourite book!" - Chris Saraiva R8F
JAMES HOLLAND AUTHOR SESSION
June 2011
James Holland, historian and television presenter, gave an author session to launch his new book for young people, Duty Calls: Dunkirk.
He gave a great insight into the economics of war illustrated by artefacts from his personal museum collection. James is very passionate and knowledgeable about his subject!
Some of our Year 9 students modelled uniforms from Russia, America, Britain and Germany so that they could be compared for their quality and cost of production.
Photographers from the South London Press and the Evening Standard visited so watch out for news of this author visit at Forest Hill School.
Health Warning: when reading this book beware page 389 because it is a very moving part of the story (don’t cheat and go straight there, read the whole book first to get the full impact!).
YEAR 7 MEET JEFF KINNEY
June 2011
Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series of books, was in the country for just three days last week and our school was especially invited to take a group of boys to meet him.
Jeff told us that he worked on his writing and illustrations for 8-9 years before succeeding in getting a publisher. He is heavily involved in the filming of his books and we should look out for a cameo appearance by him in the church scene.
A sixth Diary of a Wimpy Kid book is planned and should be out this autumn. Jeff gave us some top secret information about it – the Hegleys will be snowed in, imagine Greg trapped in the house with his family, explosions are sure to follow!
The stories contain many incidents that have really happened to Jeff. For instance, one evening Jeff was at home looking after his baby son who was trying to go to sleep upstairs in his cot, when a strange sound could be heard coming from the wall nearest to him. At first it sounded like a young boy laughing, then a girl laughing. Jeff froze, surely the house could not be haunted, there is no such thing as ghosts, are there? He was very scared but waited quietly for his baby to go to sleep then went to bed himself. The next morning when Jeff came downstairs, he found his laptop in the lounge had been left on, playing a Sesame Street game and guess what sound it was making – children’s laughter!
"It was like the best thing ever" – Matthew Marien S7F
"It was awesome" – Patrick Gwyther S7F
"The best present from an author" – Pavlos Begollaria R7G (who won the T-shirt!)
"Jeff was very friendly and very young. He told us that the Greg character is most like him. Most awesome trip I have ever been on." – Sami Rich H7G
RUTA SEPETYS - Between Shades Of Gray
May 2011
Ruta Sepetys, author of Between Shades Of Gray, while visiting this country recently found time to meet students from Forest Hill School, Sydenham School and Prendergast Hilly-Fields College.
Between Shades Of Gray is a very special book which is being published simultaneously in 23 languages. Its story reveals the experiences of a Lithuanian family who are put into a forced labour camp in 1942 by Stalin’s NKVD soldiers. As one of our students, Lewis French-Simon, Year 8, said about the book, ‘It tears your heart apart and then re-threads it back together’.
See www.betweenshadesofgray.com for the full story.
YEAR 8 MEET DAVID ALMOND
May 2011
On a recent trip to Penguin some of our Year 8 students were able to meet the wonderful David Almond, author of Skellig and more recently My Name Is Mina.
Drison Ndosha, Dylan Ward, Tom Smith, Luka O’Neill, Rhyan Holder and Levaan Dunkley impressed the Penguin team with their preparation for the visit and the excellent quality of their questions. David talked to them about his stories, the writing process and showed them his notebooks. He also talked with them about language and how he develops its use in his work.
The meeting was held in the Boardroom on the tenth floor that overlooks the Thames river. Penguin staff kindly always give the boys a tour of the offices so that they gain an insight into the workings of a publishing company.
“Meeting David Almond was a real pleasure.”
The people who went to meet David at Penguin office (London) where he had just signed a new contract with them were Dylan Ward, Luka O’Neil, Drison Ndosha, Leavan Dunkley, Tom Smith and Rhyan Holder.
"We six pupils were all from Forest Hill School. One of us asked David how he gets all his ideas. David replied, 'Well you’ve got to keep experimenting - write anything down that comes to your head, have a walk then come back and write down any ideas that you’ve gathered from that walk. You never know, a little thought can be an amazing idea.'”
- Drison Ndosha Year 9
YEAR 7 AT ARTEMIS FOWL RELAUNCH
March 2011
Year 7 students were invited to the launch of Eoin Colfer’s new artwork for his Artemis Fowl series of books. We all gathered in a very cold Piccadilly Circus to take part in the publicity filming for the event. This was followed by the boys meeting with Eoin and Penguin staff for a discussion about reading and books. The tour of the offices included the Diary of a Wimpy Kid publicity and a view from the tenth floor across the Thames river. Oliver Dawkins, D7G, said, "It was a brilliant day."
You can view footage of the Artemis Fowl launch here.
AUTHOR VISIT - PHIL EARLE
December 2010
Phil Earle, author of Being Billy visited us in December 2010. CJ Bishop, Paris Hammond-Hagan and Travis Parchment - all of D7G - were awarded prizes for their questions.
‘I enjoyed my time with Phil Earle because he told us it's not hard to write a book, when you get into it, you just keep going. The best bit was when he read a piece to us and we talked about what it's like to live in a children’s home and how it feels. Thank you to Phil Earle for coming and I hope you go far.’ Emmanuel Dasho S8G
You can find out more about Phil Earle and Being Billy here.
RICK RIORDAN VIRTUALLY LIVE EVENT
November 2010
Rick Riordan is Penguin Publisher’s top American author for young people - author of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, which became a blockbusting film in 2009. He recently visited the United Kingdom and came to Forest Hill School where he gave an author session in our Ken Kirkby Theatre which was digitally streamed live to thousands of schools all around the world.
Log on to www.rickriordanvirtuallylive.co.uk to see the webcast of the event.
Top author Eoin Colfer - creator of Artemis Fowl - was here in July 2010 for a similar event. You can see the webcast at www.eoincolfervirtuallylive.co.uk
AUTHOR VISIT - JOSEPH DELANEY
Joseph Delaney, author of the Spook's series of books, came to our school library as part of his national tour to promote his latest book, Spook's Nightmare. Readers of his books from all year groups attended the session and really enjoyed finding out the background to the stories. Joseph told us many of his secrets about where his ideas come from and how he researches them. His top tip for writing a book was to record every idea that comes to you. Joseph jots his on a piece of paper which he puts in an envelope, then at the end of the year he tips out all the pieces and begins to plan his new story.
VISIT TO PENGUIN PUBLISHERS WITH EOIN COLFER
A group of Year 7 students, all keen Artemis Fowl fans, were selected to visit Penguin publishers in central London. The students are all big fans of Eoin Colfer, having read and enjoyed all the Artemis Fowl books, so it was a real treat for them to visit the publishers and meet the author. The boys had a wonderful day and you can read one student's account of the visit here.
CHARLIE HIGSON VISIT
Author Charlie Higson and a BBC News film crew visited our school library to meet with H7F students. Charlie is well-known among young people as the author of the highly successful series of Young Bond novels, while parents and carers will remember him from the cult BBC comedy series The Fast Show.
Charlie read an excerpt from his latest book The Enemy. He was then interviewed by the BBC about the 70th anniversary of Puffin publishing which is being celebrated in 2010. Our students also got a chance to have their say - click here to view the BBC clip.
SARWAT CHADDA
We recently had a visit from Sarwat Chadda, author of Devil's Kiss. Click here to see the VoiceThread created by Miss Webb showing how much the students enjoyed his visit.