Please take a few moments to take a look at this term's Reading Newsletter.

 

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Year 4 visit to the

Cheltenham Literature Festival

 

Class 4KC

On Thursday 14th October, Year 4 went to Cheltenham Literature Festival. First, we saw Vashti Hardy an inspiring author. We learnt that she likes creating amazing worlds and robot animals. She introduced us to her new book ‘Harley Hitch’, which we have been reading in class and gave us some great tips for writing! We visited the Waterstones bookshop after, where we met Vashti Hardy was able to get our books signed and talk to her about her stories.

After that, we went into another theatre to see Valerie Bloom perform some of her poetry from her book ‘Stars with flaming tails’. Valerie Bloom taught us how to perform her poem ‘Pinda Cake’ and some Jamaican vocabulary, which was really fun!

 

Report by Stella G, Ben H, George B and Frankie L

 

Class 4JB

Last week in Year 4 we had the amazing opportunity attend the Cheltenham literacy festival. 

First, we went and met the inspiring Vashti Hardy, who wrote Griffin Gate (our current class read) and the Harley Hitch series. Vashti introduced us to her pet robot elephant (which hasn’t got a name yet) and we learned how we could write our own story because she gave us good tips; they really were amazing. She told us that once she got into trouble for asking too many questions in class and it was nice to know that even great authors can find it hard sometimes. Next, we had a chance to buy a book and get it signed by Vashti Hardy herself – she was really friendly. 

In the afternoon, we then went to see Valerie Bloom who inspired Noah and Eliza to write their own poems which they shared with the class. Her poems are very funny and she is very enigmatic and entertaining. She speaks Jamaican and even taught us some. We especially enjoyed her poem about Pinda cakes and Kisskepops as well as her swing poem!

 

‘I was ecstatic when I found out that I was going on the school trip and it turned out to be amazing – I really learned a lot about where to find inspiration.’ Eliza

 

‘I enjoyed Vashti’s power point and meeting both authors and hearing about their books.’ Indigo

 

‘I think it was a mysterious adventure to be able to meet all the amazing authors and buy a signed Harley Hitch book.’ Noah

 

‘’I really enjoyed going to Cheltenham and meeting Vashti Hardy and Valerie Bloom. They were both fantastic and I hope to go again to hear about their next books.’ Felix

 

Report by Felix, Eliza, Noah and Indigo

 

 

Year 6 visit to the

Cheltenham Literature Festival

 

On Monday 11th October, children from Year 6 also visited the Cheltenham Literature Festival, where they got to listen to and meet two fantastic authors.

 

Cressida Cowell

With 45 books written, Cressida Cowell is a very popular author for writing ‘The How To Train Your Dragon’ series and the extravagant ‘The Wizards Of Once’ series with an amazing moral. Her and Lauren Child (who wrote all the Charlie and Lola books) still have quite a good friendship. More than 20 books of hers have been published which are a mixture of novels and picture books.

 

Onjali Q Rauf

Onjali Q Rauf is a best-selling author and with 5 spectacular books written, they have been translated into about 8 different languages. Onjali’s favourite book is Matilda written by the iconic Roald Dahl and that is what inspired her to become an author and apparently she spent hours in her bedroom trying to move a pencil with her eyes. She dreamt of becoming a world famous author when she was little and she’s only just started her path on the way to stardom. In 2022 Onjali is planning to release another brilliant book called Hope On The Horizon.

 

Overall we thought that going to see Cressida Cowell and Onjali Q Rauf was amazing and we bought a book or two of theirs and when we started reading it was like we got transported to another world.

 

“It was amazing I loved the book series Wizard of Once!” Ruby.

 

“I loved seeing Onjali Q Rauf so much I even bought some more of her books!” Mia.

 

“It was fun and it was so cool to see the authors and how they brought their books to life!” Jacob S.

 

“When we went to see the authors I thought we were just going to hear about their books but when we got there I was so intrigued that I couldn’t put their books down.”

 

“I bought some books of both the authors and I absolutely loved them both I would recommend Cressida Cowell’s Wizard of Once series for children aged 6 and up and with Onjali’s books I would say they are perfect for all ages!”

 

‘’I especially liked the book ‘wizards of once’ by Cressida, I can’t wait to start reading it after I finish Onjali’s ‘Star outside my window!” Erin.

 

Report by Mia, Erin & Eren, Year 6

Thank you so much for your support for the Wear Red to Save Lives day yesterday. A member of our parent community at the Malvern Vale site is an Air Ambulance doctor and so we were treated to a fly-by when the helicopter was on a routine journey. This was such a treat for the children at both sites who saw the helicopter overhead, and the Malvern Vale site who had a visit from the Air Ambulance support vehicle.

 

The donations we received were very generous indeed, however they are in sealed Midlands Air Ambulance Charity buckets so we have been unable to count up the total to share with you. When we receive confirmation we’ll let you know how much our school raised.

 

 

‘We had the best day ever seeing the Air Ambulance on Thursday. Big thanks to Dr Wheeley for organising a fly over by West Midlands Air Ambulance Service whilst out on a routine flight, and the visit of a service car that quite literally blew us away with the sirens and horns!

 

When Oak Class returned to the classroom we coloured in some Air Ambulances and practised our cutting skills too.’  

Oak Class

 

Elm Class enjoyed it too:

‘We heard the sirens and it was loud and I liked it!’ Elijah H

 

‘The machine in the car makes your heart beat again.’ Theo

 

‘I saw the lights flashing on and off and on and off!’  Scarlett

 

‘We saw the helicopter.  There was a light and the front and we waved at him and jumped.’ Daisy