Week 28 - April 1 to 5

End of Term Celebration Assembly

Year 12 used the concept of 'Teaspoons of Change' to anchor the end of term Celebration Assembly. Teaspoons of change are small but significant ideas, attitudes and actions that have a positive impact over time.

Each prefect reported on how this approach can and does influence the area of leadership they have been assigned. See above the presentation used by Linda Ding, our Library Prefect, to show what a difference even a small amount of readiing each day can do.

Coffee & Conversations Alice Clark-Platts 

How lucky are we to have a best-selling author as one of ours! Dulwich parent? Alice Clark-Platts' latest book 'The Flower Girls' has taken the literary world by storm. Launched by Raven Books in January with a Nationwide Rail and London Underground poster campaign projecting an impact of almost 5 million across the fortnight campaign and including a 48-sheet billboard in London Waterloo, 'The Flower Girl' was the subject of a five-publisher bidding war, and its marketing campaign was Raven's biggest to date. 

We were all intrigued to hear the back story to this book and we can't wait to have Alice back again next year to talk about the second book in this two-book deal!

The surprising benefits of reading before bed

With the holiday break just around the corner and the lure of being able to indulge in uninterrupted periods of reading, I thought this would also be a good time to consider the benefits of reading.

Also at the end of the term, we often find that stress levels can be quite high as people hurtle toward the finish date frantically ensure all on their 'to do' list is complete. Click here to read about how just six minutes of reading reduces stress by 68% (more relaxing than either music or a cup of tea), thus clearing the mind and readying the body for sleep.

Studies show that people who read consistently exhibit significantly greater memory and mental abilities at all stages in life. They're also better public speakers, thinkers and, according to some studies, better people in general.

So make sure you have your Easter reading sorted!

Last chance to help others by doing something you love!

It's great to know that reading is good for you, but the current readathon initiative means that a student can improve the prospects, opportunities and lives of other children. Scroll down and download one of the Readathon sponsor forms below and use the time this upcoming break affords to leverage your joy of reading to support our literacy charities.

National Library Week

First sponsored in 1958 by the American Library Association (ALA),  National Library Week is an annual celebration highlighting the role libraries, librarians, and library workers play in transforming lives and communities. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate.

Although we secretly feel that every week is library week at DCSG, it doesn't hurt to pause and consider the impact a strong library programme has on the community which supports it.

Week 27 - 25 to 29 March

Dulwich Information Book Award

The Dulwich Information Book Award - initiated in 2016 - 17. Our ongoing aim is to highlight good quality nonfiction books in both English and Mandarin and promote them across our schools. The intention of the award is to encourage wider reading and provide a focus for a critical evaluation of content and design

is the long-list we have started for 2019. We have included some of the books that were long-listed from last year but it would be great if you could contribute more titles. Do refer to the selection criteria here, no books published before 2016.

Use this link to add titles which you feel should be considered.

International Scribble Day - 27 March!

International Scribble Day on March 27 inspires children to kindness through art. This day was created to celebrate “Scribble Art” which was inspired by the children’s book "I'm Not just a Scribble..." by Diane Alber. A book which is all about kindness - a theme which is central to our ethos here at DCSG.

We're aways looking for ways to entice students into the library so this celebration was clearly a fun way to do this! Students have been enjoying the opportunity to release their creative juices by producing beguiling little characters here in the library.

Coffee and Conversations with Alice Clark-Platts - Thursday 4 April @  Senior School Library

A not to be missed Coffee and Conversations event with author and Dulwich parent, Alice Clark-Platts.  Alice is a former human rights lawyer who worked at the UN International Criminal Tribunal in connection with the Rwandan genocide and on cases involving Winnie Mandela and Snoop Dogg. She is the author of the police procedurals Bitter Fruits and The Taken, the latter of which was shortlisted for the Best Police Procedural in the Dead Good Reader Awards 2017. Her work was included in Deadlier: 100 of the Best Crime Stories Written by Women, selected by Sophie Hannah.

More details about this competition can be accessed here.

Students need digital citizenship skills to participate fully in their communities and make smart choices online and in life. When working on projects like the above Red Dot design projects, choosing rights-cleared images is an essential requirement in order to avoid infringing copyright restrictions.

The above poster shows some of the main places that students can search for rights-free media. In using any of this material, students must also agree to:

• Give proper attribution: Include the citation below the media, on your Google Site, and also include it on their works cited page.
• Use appropriately: Avoid transforming or modifying the media, unless the copyright gives them permission to do so.

Holiday Reading

With the holidays just around the corner please encourage your kids to plan their borrowing so that they have plenty of reading material for the break.

If you are over the break and don't want to carry too many books with you, our ebook library is a very useful resource. All the details are here.

Library Sofas a Raging Success!

Not only do students really enjoy using the sofas during their break times, but teachers are reporting that they are working really well in lesson time as well. Students stay very focused on their reading, while at the same time they appreciate being in close proximity to their peers. These additions to the library landscape are having a very positive effect on library usage. 

Year 7 Community Service Project - Books Needed

See details in the poster below - Dr. Clayton is collecting books in readiness for a Year 7 Community Service Project next term. Please help if you can.

The Value of Fiction - What story will you try on next?

In this interesting TED=Ed video, Jessica Wise exams how our reality is changed by the fiction we read and write.

Reading and stories can be an escape from real life, a window into another world — but have you ever considered how new fictional experiences might change your perspective on real, everyday life? From Pride and Prejudice to Harry Potter, learn how popular fiction can spark public dialogue and shape culture

Laura Annecca picks up this theme in her article Why Fiction Can Change Your Life where she talks about the value of reading fiction not only because it is entertaining, but because it is also helpful self-development because it allows us to:

• See the world through other eyes
• Question ourselves
• See the future
• Be expressive
• Celebrate diversity

Welcome to Tan Sue Yng

We are delighted to welcome a new library staff member Tan Sue Yng.  Sue comes to with a graphic arts background so we are excited about adding this skill set to the library team.

Week 26 - 18 to 22 March

Congratulations to our Book Week Parent and Staff Competition winners

We are excited to announce the winners of this year's Parent and Staff Book Week Competition. The prize for the winning entries is a copy of  Dulwich parent Alice Clark-Platts' latest thriller The Flower Girls. A great prize - and we were fortunate enough to have Alice judge the competition! The winners are as follows:

Parent Category:

Winner - Suzanne Hopkinson with Invisible Man by Ralph Elison - subtitled as Fathers of daughters: How to survive the teenage years.

Suzanne also received an mention with Bitter Fruits by Alice Clark-Platts - subtitled as Just Say NO! to Durian

Staff Category:

Winner - Ruth Taaffe  Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - subtitled by The Terrible Tale of What Happens When You Run Out of Glue Sticks.

Ruth also received two mentions with The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan - subtitles Alternative Routes to Sembawang for Rush Hour Commuters.

and

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - subtitled with What to Do When Our WiFi Fails

Lots of clever entries, but congratulations to our winners. We know you will enjoy reading your prize.

Coffee and Conversations with Alice Clark-Platts - Thursday 4 April 8:45am - SS Library Oval Room

'The Flower Girls' by Alice Clark-Platts. (Shutterstock/Bloomsbury)

Prior to becoming an author, DCSG parent Alice Clark-Platts was a former human rights lawyer who worked on cases involving Winnie Mandela and rapper Snoop Dogg as well as working at the UN International Tribunal in connection with the Rwandan genocide.

Bloomsbury imprint Raven Books fought off competition in a five-publisher auction to buy Alice's thriller The Flower Girls as part of a six-figure two-book deal.

Previously published by Penguin, Alice is the author of the police procedurals Bitter Fruit and The Taken, the latter of which was shortlisted for the Best Police Procedural in the Dead Good Reader Awards in 2017.

Alice has also written short stories which have been published in various anthologies. And when Alice is not writing, she's running The Singapore Writers' Group which she founded in 2012.

We are really looking forward to hosting Alice at our next Coffee and Conversations With An Author event at 8:45 am on Thursday 4 April in the Senior School Library Oval Room.

Get Your Kids Onboard With Our Readathon

Launched in Book Week, the Whole College Readathon is a great way for students to not only challenge and develop their reading ability but pay it forward for less privileged students.

On our Book Week we raised $2,578.40 across the College which will go toward developing the literacy skills of vulnerable students in Singapore as well as students in our long-standing sister  UWS:  Som Toch School in Cambodia. You can click here to learn more about where the funds will go.

We will add to these funds the money our students raise first ever readathon. Scroll below to the information added last week about this initiative as well as a downloadable copy of the sponsorship form. Copies of the form are also available in the library.

FOBISIA Writing Competition Successes

We recently hosted the FOBISIA short story writing competition here at the College. Students across Asia were invited to write stories inspired by the College's theme - 'Home' - and submitted their best to be entered into the competition which was judged by , Choo Waihong. 

Waihong, Singaporean ex-lawyer,  was our first Coffee and Conversations author for the year when she came to talk about her book The Kingdom of Women: Life, Love and Death in China’s Hidden Mountains ‘ published in 2007 is now in four other languages, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Finnish. In this book she documents her time spent living with the matriarchal tribe of the Mosuo in Yunnan

The book garnered a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Recommendation for 2017, and won the Asian Books Blog Book of the Lunar New Year In the Year of the Rooster (2018).

Students from our College have since made their entries into a collection of short stories, and, I have to say, I was overwhelmed with the exceptional quality and maturity of the work. 

To celebrate the creativity amongst our budding young writers, we compiled an anthology of the shortlisted Every story is unique and you can click here to read them. Well done to all involved!

Why reading aloud to teenagers is a vital bridge to literacy

Photograph: Michele Constantini/Getty/PhotoAlto

Continuing on from last week's Guardian article about the importance of reading aloud to teenagers, take a look at this interesting article by Michael Rosen, poet, former Children's Laureate and author of over 140 books. In it, Rosen advises that reading to teenagers makes sense as they learn the complex gear changes between speech and prose.

A relevant talk right here in Singapore

If your interest in the topic of the value of reading has been piqued by the above and last weeks article, you may be interested in attending the talk next week.

Sign up for this special talk by Fernando M. Reimers, renowned educator and author of the children’s book series, The Adventures of Filomena.

Prof Reimers will highlight the importance of conversations across generations to cultivate values, and to foster children’s ethical development. He will introduce his books from The Adventures of Filomena series and explain how the various elements are designed to support such intergenerational conversations. The author will also show how the books have been used around the world to foster foreign language appreciation. This talk will be of interest to parents, grandparents, teachers, school leaders and others interested in fostering developmentally constructive relationships among children and families.

This session will be moderated by Dr Myra Garces-Bacsal.

Date: 27 March, Wednesday
Time: 7pm – 8.30pm
Free admission. Please register here. Donations are welcome at the door.
Venue: Singapore Book Council Training Room

Great Coffee and Conversations with Aysha Baqir on Tuesday

A really interesting Coffee and Conversations With An Author this morning. Aysha Baqir spoke with parents about her recently published debut novel 'Beyond the Fields'. This book, set in Southern Punjab, is a timely look at profound inequalities and traditions that disempower women in our world, and survival as a dance to the beat of a different future. 

Love that this author is so intent on being part of the ideal that we should all be working together on “pulling women up”.

Week 25 - 11 to 15 March

Next Tuesday - Coffee & Conversations With An Author - 8:45am, Library Oval Room - Aysha Baqir

Image credit - http://fuchsiamagazine.com/beyond-the-fields-review/

Don't miss this opportunity to hear Aysha talk about her recently published book Beyond the Fields -  a critical, timely look at norms and traditions that discriminate and disempower girls and women in our world. This story is about two twin girls, Zara and Tara, who navigate issues of identity and honour in a society which penalises the less fortunate and shows no mercy to those who become victims of tragedies like rape and prostitution.  

Poetry By Heart Competition

For the poetry lovers in the Senior School, this is an opportunity to learn a favourite poem and recite it to a like-minded students - with a bonus of earning  points for their House. 

Readathon Launch

Part of our Book Week initiatives last week was the launch of the Readathon. Books and reading are an essential element of our culture here at DSCG and we would like to use our love of books to help others. 

We would like students to set a target for themselves to read a challenging number of books/chapters/minutes during the 8 weeks. !

Our readathon will help support vulnerable children in Singapore through the ‘Spright Academy’ at the AMKFSC. Among other projects, we would like to help them set up mini libraries and comfortable reading areas, giving the children access to high-quality books. The money we raise will be split between Spright Academy and also our long-standing charity commitment with UWS: Gnang Som Toch school in Cambodia. 

Sponsorship forms are available in the library or can be printed off using the link above.

Art Installation in the Library!

Thursdays Enrichment Day had the library thrumming with activity with many activities taking place across the day. We were very excited to inherit a very clever art installation done by the Infect a Space- Installation Art group under the expert direction of NIcky Cases.

Book Week Fun Continues

One week is just not enough for everyone to get involved in all the activities we had  in the library for Book Week, so we extended the fun into this week. Lots of time spent reflecting on what we all enjoy about the library and books and it was great to take full advantage of all the student's interest in all things !

The value of giving readers story time

Following on from Book Week and World Book Day last week,  it is interesting to read this Guardian Newspaper article which highlights the research backing the value of reading to older students in order to keep them interested in reading.

Experts say reading aloud to children, free from accompanying work or exercises, is key to fostering reading for pleasure. A 2018 National Literacy Trust study found that children who enjoyed reading were significantly less likely to have mental health problems, while the Centre for Longitudinal Studies found in 2013 that reading for pleasure has a four times greater impact on academic success than one parent having a degree.

Farewell & Welcome

We were very sad to farewell Komala John last Friday. Komala has taken a job which offers more flexible hours and hence allows her to spend more time with her family. She has been with us for a year and a half and in that short time has really endeared herself to our borrowers here in the library. So many of our library users came to rely on and appreciated the kind and friendly approach she took to her work here. 

On a much happier we are delighted to welcome her replacement, Shirley Yeo. Shirley is well known here at DCSG. She started working as DUCKS receptionist when the College was in its early days. From there she progressed to become the much-loved library assistant in the Junior School. We feel very fortunate to have her now as our Senior School library assistant and know we will benefit greatly from the experience and expertise she brings with her - and her lovely kind and caring nature.

Comfortable Seating on Level 3 of the Library 

What a hit the new comfortable seating in level 3 of the library has been. Put together by our very own students under the 'foremanship' of Jeff Fuller and Nick Mainiero, they have proved very popular both in and out of school lesson time.

Parent & Staff Book Week Competition - Judge - Alice Clark-Platts!

Our Book Week parent and staff competition Friday, 15 March. Click here and scroll down for details. There have been some fabulous entries and not only do we have a fabulous prize for one clever parent and one clever staff member, but we also have a fabulous judge to make the difficult decisions for us. Alice Clark-Platts, whose latest book The Flower Girls is the fabulous prize, has agreed to be our judge. Watch this space next week to find out who our fabulous winners are.

Just a heads up too - Alice has agreed to be part of our Coffee and Conversations With An Author series and will be talking about her work and this new book on Thursday, 4 April at in the Library Oval Room. 

As someone who consumed the book as quickly as possible, I can't wait to have the opportunity to talk to her about this new book. Do save the date and make sure you join the discussion as well.

Week 24 - 4 to 9 March

The Most Wonderful Week of the Year

What a fabulous way to finish up another wonderful Book Week here at Dulwich, Singapore.

I’m always so impressed with the way the whole school community embraces this opportunity every year to celebrate books and reading.

What really strikes me here at Dulwich is the strength of the reading culture – not just the students but the whole community – parents and staff alike – all eager and ready to have those great discussions about books and what’s really good to read.

It really is not a matter of whether we read here at Dulwich, but what we are reading and what will we read next!

Flick through the PowerPoint below for an overview of the week's activities, then scroll down to see some of the photos taken across the week.

http://www.bookbarmy.com/baby-just-one-more-page/

Book Week Competition for the Parents and Staff

The students have been kept busy all week doing 'booky' things all over the College, but we would like parents and staff to buy into the fun with this year's competition.

The prize is certainly worth the effort. I can highly recommend this latest book by Alice Clark-Platts, one of our Dulwich parents and can definitely agree with all the recommendations which can be accessed here. 

If you aren't successful in winning this competition, the good news is that Alice will be joining us on Thursday 4 April as part of our Coffee and Conversations - 8:45 in the Senior Library Oval Room. So do mark this not to be missed date in your diary.

We have three copies of her book in the Senior Library Adult Collection, so why not drop by and borrow one in readiness for her talk.

Book Week Dress Up Day

Book Fair

Watching students get excited about books is certainly one of the great parts of the job of a librarian and Book Week certainly gives us lots of opportunities to do that. Research has shown the value of students having a well-stocked home library so having a Book Fair as part of our Book Week celebrations is a perfect addition.

Book Week Serialised Story

Every year the students report that one of their favourite activities during Book Week is the serialised story, where we break up a story into seven parts and start reading it during tutor time and then a little bit more each lesson until the ending is revealed in period 7.

This year we chose The Landlady by Roald Dahl. A story which certainly gives us all a chill as it progresses.

Book Week Debate

This house believes that traditional literary works carry value than more voices.

Congratulations to these Year 8 World Scholars Cup representatives from Meyrick's English Class who stepped up to the mark on Wednesday to conduct a well structured Book Week debate. Very evenly matched competition they were able to showcase the skills they have developed under Meyrick's tutelage and present well thought out arguments and rebuttals.

Book Week Quizzes, Competitions & Activites

Students got really involved with all the quizzes. competitions and activities - having fun and earning points for their houses!

Book Week Book Doctors

This week a number of our teachers tried a career change and donned the Book Doctor kit below and went out prescribing book remedies for the students in the Senior School.

 Off they went in their white coats, doctors badges, a jar of 'Georges Marvellous Medicine' and most importantly a pad of prescriptions (includes the characteristics of particular genre readers plus a list of books held by the library in that genre). The Book Doctors asked the patients how they are feeling and prescribed reading remedies to help them recover. Students were given some 'medicine' and send them on their way.  Happily, a lot of them made their way to the library to borrow some of the books listed on their prescription.

Drop Everything And Read - DEAR

https://literacyforpleasure.wordpress.com/2017/01/03/creating-a-community-of-readers-the-power-of-dear/

One of our student's favourite Book Week activities is DEAR and how fortunate it is that science backs up the benefits of daily sustained silent reading. Neuroscientist Sally Shaywitz presents noteworthy statistics about the benefits of reading a minimum of 20 minutes per day in her book, Overcoming Dyslexia. Click here for an insight into her case for why a child should read at least 20 minutes a day. 

See below some of the interesting places our students used to read this week.

Travelling Tales Concludes in Book Week

The wonderful 'Travelling Tales' reached their final conclusion this week with children from all over DUCKS, Junior School, Year 7 and Year 8 meeting together to share the final books. All were fascinated to learn how their parts in the story had been developed and it was fabulous for students from different year groups to share the love of reading and books together this Book Week.

Have a flick through the photos below for an inside look into how much fun the students had sharing their writing with younger students.

Karien van Ditzhuijzen - Coffee and Conversations Author

Karien van Ditzhuijzen joined us as part of the Coffee and Conversation With An Author Series for parents on Monday morning. The College theme, and the theme for Book Week this year, is Our Heritage, Our Home. Having edited 'Our Homes, Our Stories; Voices of Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore' and written A Yellow House', Karien uses her writing to offer insights into the life of migrant domestic workers here in Singapore. She definitely was the perfect speaker to help launch our Book Week activities this year.

Maureen Yeo - Author Talk - Friday 1 March

Teacher and author, Maureen Yeo's talk 'How to be hilarious' really hit the spot with our year 7 and 8 students last Friday afternoon. There lots and learning and entertainment as Maureen showed them how to make their stories send readers into peals of laughter - a great way finish the school week and herald in Books Week!

Maureen shared her PowerPoint - How To Be Hilarious -  with us, click on the link below and you will get a general idea of what she covered with the students, but the most interesting slides depict the beautiful illustrations from her book The Great Singapore Poo Sale.

HOW TO BE HILARIOUS.pptx - PowerPoint Presentation

Encouraging Teens to Read

Obviously, the underlying reason we put so much effort into making Book Week such a big deal is because of the value we put on reading and how important we feel it is to make sure all our students are reading. 

As teens lives become increasingly digital, books compete with the compelling lure of social media, games, smartphones, screen media and schoolwork for teens time. Click here for a myriad of ideas and strategies to inspire and encourage teens to read.

International Women's Day

If you have some spare time over the weekend and you and your kids love stories about spies, aviators, adventurers, ceiling smashers incredible athletes, then they'll love Fierce Girls.

From athletes to aviators, scientists to spies. From the deep blue sea to the dark, black skies. Australia is full of girls who dare to do things differently. Adventurous girls. Girls with guts and spirit.  know what they are? They're FIERCE.

Click here to listen to their stories.

Join the amazing Turia Pitt, Lisa Wilkinson, Stephanie Gilmore, Sally Pearson, Leah Purcell and more, as they tell the inspiring tales of some of Australia's most extraordinary women.

This podcast tells the stories of Australian women who dared to do things differently. You'll hear the stories of Nancy Wake, Jessica Watson, the incredible Cathy Freeman and many more.

Save the Date - Tuesday, 19 March - 8:45 - Coffee & Conversations With An Author

Aysha Baqir’s recently published debut novel Beyond the Fields is a book about the rise of violence against girls and women all over the world.

Aysha grew up in Pakistan and received a scholarship from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts. Her time at college sparked a passion for economic development and after completing a BA in International Relations, she returned to Pakistan to work.

Aysha quickly learned that villagers needed access to economic resources and networks before they could voice their demands for social justice. In 1998 she founded the Kaarvan Foundation (www.kaarvan.com), a pioneering economic development not-for-profit organization focused on poverty alleviation through the provision of business development and market-focused training for girls and women. She led the Foundation until 2012 when I relocated to Singapore. She is currently on the Board of Kaarvan Foundation and is also an Ashoka Fellow (https:// www.ashoka.org).

Although she left the field, the voices of the village women stayed with her and that’s when she began to write. Set in the early 1980s against the backdrop of martial law and social turmoil, Beyond the Fields is a timely look at profound inequality, traditions that disempower women in our world in which violence against women in increasing without any effective laws in place.

Week 23 - 25 February to 1 March

Next week is Book Week!

The lead up has been exciting and we are really looking forward to this fabulous week of celebrating the importance of reading in our lives.

We will be kicking off the week with a Coffee and Conversations With An Author for parents starting at 8:45 am in the Senior Library.  See details in the poster below and make sure you come along to this highlight of our week.

There is a lot of excitement in the libraries and across the College as we have anticipated our Book Week celebrations for this academic year. Over the last few weeks, we have provided a lot of information about the interesting events that will be happening, but we have not yet reflected on how we are also using Book Week as a time to give back to others who have not had the same reading opportunities in their lives. On the Book Character Dress Up Day on Friday, 8 March the students can bring an optional donation of $2. Next week our optional readathon will be launched and we are hoping that lots of students will be motivated to take part in this initiative. They can ask family or friends to sponsor them to complete a reading challenge over an eight week period. The two charities we will be supporting will be the Spright Academy in Singapore and our UWS Cambodia partner school, Ngang Som Toch. 

Please make sure your child has a great reading book in school every day and if they don't have one remind them to get up to the library first thing Monday morning. 

Importance of Library Programmes

Research consistently shows a positive correlation between school libraries run by qualified teacher librarians and student achievement. Book Week is certainly a time to reflect on the strong library programme we have here at DCSG and the well-oiled library team that runs our three libraries. The presentation below explains the role of libraries and teacher librarians in schools.

Looking ahead - free audiobooks for teens for summer

What is SYNC

SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens 13+. Returning April 25, 2019, SYNC will give away two complete audiobook downloads a week - pairs of high interest titles, based on weekly themes.

SYNC introduces a variety of audiobook experiences to teens to demonstrate that reading can be completed by listening.

You can sign-up now to get notifications when the FREE audiobook downloads are available. You can receive alerts by text message, email newsletter, or by visiting www.audiobooksync.com. Titles change every Thursday at 7am ET when the program is running.

Please Note: Signing up for these alerts will not send you the titles. The alerts will only tell you when and where the title is available to download.

Download Details

• Downloads are in MP3 format, hosted by OverDrive, and are Mac and Windows compatible.
• Downloads will operate through the OverDrive app.
• Most listening devices are supported.
• Each SYNC audiobook will be available for download for a period of 7 days (only).
• Titles, once downloaded, are yours to keep.

Our Heritage, Our Home - Book Week Culmination Celebration - Parents Welcome - Friday,  8 March 2:40pm in the PAC Theatre

We have linked our Book Week celebrations to this year's College theme - Our Heritage, Our Home. Thanks to the generosity of Dulwich Parents Andrea and Conrad Lim and Rita Dahy  we are very excited to be hosting Peranakan Sayang, a performance group which has been entertaining audiences here in Singapore and around the world since 2009 with their unique brand of music that brings a fresh update to local Peranakan folk songs and pop classics.

Their performances are all about celebrating the rich Peranakan cultural heritage through their specially arranged songs, sung with lots of energy, fun and humour by these lively, larger-than-life singers.  The team will be presenting Peranakan culture in the Singaporean context next Friday afternoon - including aspects of history, architecture, clothes, traditions and more.  The singers will also engage the students with songs and also interactive dance. 

What a great way to end Book Week and to learn about the culture of the country in which we live! Please come along and enjoy this celebration with us if you can.

How to keep your teenager reading

The issue of keeping teens, who have developed great reading habits during their early years, to keep reading is a perennial one and one that we wrangle with every day in the senior library. This blog post provides some great ideas for parents of teenagers. - and with Book Week coming up next week what better time to take these strategies on board and see what you can do on the home front to make sure all our students continue to develop the strong reading habits that will ensure continued success.

Happenings of interest for our writers

An Afternoon of Fun:
Writing Flash Fiction and Creative Nonfiction

Do you love observing life? Presented in partnership with online writing platform Write the World (www.writetheworld.com), discover the many wonderful ways to write about our lives using creative nonfiction and personal narrative in this workshop led by award-winning author Melissa De Silva, who is Education Ambassador for Write the World. Also learn the art of compression with flash fiction, described by writer Tara L. Masih as “a work of art carved on a grain of rice.” Write your own narrative flashes, sometimes no longer than a page, or a sentence or two, inspired by prompts ranging from photographs to objects to lines of poetry.

Have fun learning to write flash fiction and creative nonfiction and join a global community of student writers with free online creative writing platform Write the World (www.writetheworld.com), developed at Harvard University exclusively for young writers between 13 and 18.

To sign up for this workshop, click here!

World Book Day resources for readers, writers  illustrators

The following links will take readers, writer and illustrators to master classes provided by experts in this field. A great focus during Book Week when celebrate the important role books play in our lives.

https://www.worldbookday.com/online-masterclasses/connecting-to-the-reader/

https://www.worldbookday.com/online-masterclasses/bury-deep-and-use-your-emotions/

https://www.worldbookday.com/online-masterclasses/finding-your-style/

Week 22 - 18 to 22  February 

Book Week is almost here!

Book Week will be from the 4th to 8th March. The theme will be 'Our Heritage, Our Home' and we will be celebrating books written by British and Singaporean authors. 

On book character dress up day (8th March), students might want to stick to this theme or come as another character.  Students are asked to bring a donation of $2 can be made and this will go to support the go to support these two important charities.

See below an overview of all the exciting things which are happening during that week.

Mandarin Book Club

Another successful Mandarin Book Club meeting this week. If you are interested in being part of this group please get in touch with  Ping Li at the following  email address:

ping.ping.li@hotmail.com 

Book Week Parent & Staff Competition

Each year we try to come up with an interesting way to involve parents and staff in our Book Week celebrations across the College. When I came across the fun being had on the Snide Octopus Instagram and Facebook pages, I knew this was the focus for us this year.

Authors spend a lot of time coming up with titles for their texts, but Snide Octopus is spending a lot of time messing them up by captioning photos of books with subtitles. These short and witty subtitles usually cut to the core of the book and brilliantly summarize it or provide an alternative title that would either insult and engage its author or make him/her laugh. 

Let's face it, sometimes life would be better with subtitles! So please do get involved with this competition,  take a look at what's on your bookshelves at home or wander into a library or bookshop near you and give your imagination free rein.

Book Week Coffee and Conversations for Parents - Mon 4 March 8:45am

Of course, we have organised to have an author during Book Week for our Coffee and Conversation series and have tied it to the theme 'Our Heritage, Our Home'

Karien van Ditzhuijzen has become a leading voice and advocate for migrant domestic workers through her work at HOME (Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics). Whether volunteering at HOME’s helpdesk, or establishing a blog for helpers that’s evolved into a beautiful book, Karien has worked tirelessly to empower helpers and improve their situation since she arrived in Singapore in 2012.

Her recent novel A Yellow House, takes a deep and engaging look at the plight of migrant domestic workers in Singapore.

Karien has agreed to come and talk around our Home and Heritage theme and provides insights into what has driven her to edit and write the two books above. So please be sure to mark this event in your calendar.

Book Week Book Fair

Closetful of Books will be running a 3 day Book Fair with a wide range of wonderful books to choose from.  Students may bring in money to buy books at the fair. It will be open from Wednesday 6th to Friday 9th from 8am until 4:30pm and parents may buy directly from the fair. On Thursday evening they will remain open until 6pm to coordinate with DUCKS parents evening. This will be held in the DUCKS foyer for Wednesday and Thursday and PAC foyer on Friday. Have a look at the brochure below to see some of the tiles on offer.

Readers Cup Trials

There was fierce competition across the libraries this week as students participated in a reading quiz to make a place in our Readers Cup teams on Thursday this week. A number of our Year 7 students competed for a place in the 6 members strong team which will represent our school at this Singapore wide celebration of reading at The German European School on April 25. Congratulations to Emily Van Rooyen (7R) who made it into the team.

A Very Entertaining Morning in the Library!

On Tuesday morning we were thoroughly entertained and informed by Alison Ozawa Saunders and Jessica Duff, the duo behind the Textpat wives blog, and now of the best-selling Expats' Guide to Singapore. A big thanks to Ali and Jess and to Friends of Dulwich who sponsor all our Coffee and Conversation With .

Words Go Round (WGR) from 25 Feb to 9 Mar

Listen to writers and spoken word artists read works inspired by art, develop your child’s narrative writing skills and let children with special needs explore their creative side in a series of talks and workshops. 

Visit http://bit.ly/wgr19publicprogrammes for the full list of programmes.

Friendly February

It seems February is not only Library Lovers month, it is also Friendly Friday. The library is the perfect place to come in to meet a friend, find a friend, be a friend and hang-out and read with a friend.

Week 21 - 11 to 15 February 2019

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Don't forget the secret to a happy new year can be found in the library!

Coffee and Conversations - next Tuesday 19 February 8:45am

THE EXPATS' GUIDE TO SINGAPORE

by Alison Ozawa Sanders and Jessica Duff

Are you a newbie expat in Singapore? Or a new-ish expat still trying to figure this whole place out? Or have you been in Singapore for a while, but still just not feeling quite at "home"?

In The Expats' Guide to Singapore seasoned expats Jessica Duff and Alison Ozawa Sanders walk you through getting to know — and love — expat life in Singapore.

The pair behind the popular Textpat Wives blog, Jess and Ali calm your newbie fears, reveal inside information, and share their own hard-earned experiences (and many, many mishaps) which will leave you snorting with laughter.

We are really looking forward to hosting Jess and Ali next Tuesday starting at 8:45 in the Senior School Library. Come along for a coffee and a pastry and enjoy the opportunity to hear about their experience both as authors and newbies to Singapore. Jess and Ali will have copies of their books available for purchase and will be happy to sign them for you.

Total Defence Day 2019

On Feb 15, 1942, the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese, who occupied the country until Sept 12, 1945. Total Defence was launched on 15 February 1984 as a day of remembrance here in Singapore. 

Since 1984, the Defence Ministry has released posters that correspond to the different themes of Total Defence. Click here to read more about this day and of course come to the library to read more about the history of Singapore and beyond.

Finding Love in the Library!

https://cmrls.lib.ms.us/library-lovers-month-2017

February is library lovers month which gives us pause for thought about the role the library plays here at DCSG and how we can ensure all our user love their school library. We aim to make our library the come to place for the students, teachers and parents. We are always open to suggestions about ways we can do this better, so please let us know if you have any ideas. 

Perhaps more than any other month, February  seems to be devoted to children’s literature, with major awareness events including National Storytelling Week in the UK (26th January to 2nd February), World Read Aloud Day (1st February), Children’s Authors & Illustrators Week (1st week in February), and Tell a Fairy Tale Day (26th February).

And with Valentines Day slap bang in the middle, it's a great time to celebrate our love of books, authors and illustrators. So forget the roses and chocolates, just come to the library and grab a good read to celebrate this special time!

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. 

~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

10 Ways to Get your Entire Family Hooked on Books

In 52 Small Changes for the Family, a book I have recently ordered for our library, bestselling author Brett Blumenthal teams up with family health practitioner Danielle Shea Tan to reveal how to build a foundation of health and happiness in the family. The idea is simple: Make one small change a week for 52 weeks and at the end of the year, you and your children will enjoy a happier, healthier lifestyle.

Click here to read an except which features their tips on how to get the whole family hooked on reading. As Dr Seuss says:

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

#BuySingLit Returns for the Third Year

#BuySingLit returns bigger and better this year with over 80 programmes across two weekends from 8 – 10 and 15 – 17 March. With Dulwich's focus this year being Our Heritage, Our Home, what a great time to experience the ever-expanding universe, filled with wonderful stories of our shared experience and cultures.

Click here to visit the official website and find out more!

Writing Opportunities for Students 13+ Years

Explore and develop your craft and love for writing at Open: Singapore Young Writers Lab, a revamp of the All In! Young Writers Festival. Open is a developmental platform for writers between 13 to 25 years old.

Comprising talks, workshops mentorships, the year-round programme spans across forms, genres and languages. Open focuses on various forms of writing, including creative writing, screenwriting, translation, and book reviews. Participants will delve into a wide range of genres such as science fiction, speculative fiction, poetry, graphic novels, and creative nonfiction.
This programme is eligible for the Tote Board Arts Grant subsidy

Click here for more information about the workshops and discounts available.

Take part in our 10-Word Short Story Competition on Facebook and stand a chance to win a $50 voucher and tickets to the Open: Singapore Young Writers Lab workshops in March. This week's featured word: FAMILY

Click here to participate!

Link to Recommended Reading Lists & Library Catalogue

To make things a little easier for everyone, we have made a QR poster which takes to the recommended reading lists for each year group. These lists are by no means exhaustive but can be a good starting point for students looking for age-appropriate suggestions for their wider reading.

Page two of this doc has a link to our library catalogue as well. 

Three Cheers for our Reading Ambassadors 

We have a fabulous bunch of dedicated students who turn up each Monday morning to discuss ways to strengthen the reading culture here in the Senior School. Avid readers themselves, they return to their tutor groups the following day to let them know what the library is promoting or focusing on that week. 

This week they spoke out about why they do what they do and why the library and reading is important to them.

Mandarin Book Club postponed until next Thursday, 21 February

Due to a parent talk which clashed with the  Mandarin Book Club which was scheduled for this Thursday, 14 February, this group will meet next week to talk about the book they have been reading this week - One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

As a librarian, I was a little abashed that I had not read it. So I gave it a go over the Chinese New Year break. Pretty heavy going I have to say, so I take my hat off to them for taking on such a worthy title.

Week 20 - 28 January to 1 February 2019

World Read Aloud Day - 1 February

“People would stand in line for days and pay hundreds of dollars if there were a pill that could do everything for a child that reading aloud does. It expands their interest in books, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and attention span. Simply put, it’s a free ‘oral vaccine’ for literacy.” —Jim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook

Every year, on World Read Aloud Day, people all around the globe read aloud together and share stories to advocate for literacy as a human right that belongs to all people.

For 10 years World Read Aloud Day (WRAD) has called attention to the importance of sharing stories by challenging participants to grab a book, find an audience, and read aloud! 

The Chinese New Year break may provide you with the opportunity to get onboard with this. Why not grab a book and read aloud to the kids in your life.

Reading aloud with others is more important than you think

Click here to read an interesting brief history of social reading, excerpted from THE SOCIAL LIFE OF BOOKS: Reading Together in the Eighteenth-Century Home by Abigail Williams. 

Mark your calendar for after CNY

The next Coffee and Conversations will be in our second week back after the  break - Tuesday, 19 February st 8:45am.  Authors, Alison Ozawa Sanders and Jessica Duff will be talking about their new book The Expats’ Guide to Singapore: Finding Your Feet on the Little Red Dot.

Alison and Jessica are the duo behind the popular blog and Facebook page, Textpat Wives. Both are expats, living and raising their families in Singapore. Ali is from California, and Jess was born and raised in Ireland and moved to Singapore from London. Both are former lawyers, current harried parents, and fairly constant hot messes. They like to drink coffee (and gin, depending on the time of day), explore Singapore, and look for solutions to their constant sweat and hair-frizz issues. They’ve both done some freelance writing in the past, but these days the bulk of their writing comprises exasperated, all-caps text messages to one another. They met in a playground in 2014—newbie expat strangers bringing their respective 1-year-olds on a blind (play)date—and have never looked back.

Click here to read an excerpt from the book - and make sure you mark this event in your calendar as something to look forward to after the break!

Reading over the break

The message has gone out loud and clear this week about the importance of making sure we all have enough reading material for the break. Students are allowed to borrow as many books as they feel they need to get them through the break. Don't forget our e-book platform, which is a great option if you are travelling and don't want to lug heavy books with you. Click here to access it. Students just need to use their college user name and password to borrow. Downloading the app to a device is a great way of easily taking a whole library away on holiday with you.

Readers Cup activities to keep students over the break

Apart from reading the Red Dot Award books over the break, students could work on the Design a Better Book Cover or Design a Book Trailer competitions. Details about both these competitions are contained in the documents below. A great way to use their extra time over half term.

I am very excited about our next Coffee and Conversation session coming up after the Chinese New Year break. Alison Ozawa Saunders and Jessica Duff have agreed to come and talk about their recently published book: The Expats’ Guide to Singapore: Finding Your Feet on the Little Red Dot.

This new guide for expats in Singapore  with everything the newbie needs to know, but at the same time provides the seasoned expat with a fresh view of the island on which they live!

In The Expats’ Guide to Singapore: Finding Your Feet on the Little Red Dot, expats Jessica Duff and Alison Ozawa Sanders walk the “newbie expat” through getting to know - and love - expat life in Singapore. The pair behind the popular “ Wives” blog and Facebook page, Jess and Ali reveal inside information and share their own hard-earned experiences (and many, many mishaps) which will leave the reader snorting with laughter. They cover choosing the right car, neighborhood, or condo, navigating the city, and (perhaps most pressingly) how to deal with the disaster which is expat hair in tropical humidity.

Why did they write the book? “Very simply - because no one else has. Because all those other guidebooks are boring, and being an expat in Singapore is anything but. Because we got tired of having to turn to the internet every single time we needed to know something about life here . . . Because we remember what it was like to be a newbie, searching in vain for a fun, informative, helpful, real-life resource to help us along. We couldn’t find one. So we wrote it.”

“Hilarious and spot-on. This is the book I wish I’d had when I was a new expat in Singapore.” -Lisa Beazley, author of Keep Me Posted.

“…a genuinely helpful and comprehensive tome about [expat] life in Singapore…” - Sassy Mama Magazine, sassymamasg.com.

Jessica and Alison are both expats, living and raising their children in Singapore. Jess was born and raised in Ireland and moved to Singapore from London, and Ali is from California. In previous lives (i.e., back in their home countries, pre-expat adventure) they were both lawyers, but today they are trailing spouses, harried parents, and resigned to being fairly constant hot messes. They like to drink coffee (and gin, depending on the time of day), explore Singapore, and look for solutions to their constant-sweat and hair-frizz issues. They have both also worked as freelance writers, although lately the bulk of their writing comprises exasperated, all-caps text messages to each other which now make up the Textpat Wives blog.

Watch this space!

We have received a small part of an order of fabulous outdoor furniture for the area outside the main entrance to the library. It was great to see how quickly the students took to it. This table and chair set is in hot demand but luckily we will be receiving a lot more where these came from (France actually!) and hopefully we will be able to reveal the full vision by the end of March.

Why reading every day is important

When it comes to your brain, researchers have found there's no better superfood than a book.

... we should provide all children ... with as many reading experiences as possible ... (reading is) one partially malleable habit that will itself develop abilities.

Get involved with the Red Dots Books

Students who find the prospect of reading all eight books in their category a bit overwhelming may prefer to join in with the book cover or book trailer competition. See details on the flyers below - entries due 25 March.

The Red Dot Award books are flying off the shelves with students showing great interest in this year's selection Red Dot student's choice book awards are an initiative of the International School Libraries (ISLN) in Singapore. The annual event started in 2009.

All school libraries in Singapore (and the region) are welcome to participate.

Books - in four age-based categories, with eight titles in each - are announced in June. Voting takes place between March and May. There is an overall winner for Singapore as well as individual winners within each school.

A Readers Cup competition based on a subset of these shortlists will be held on 25 April and the German European School. Details about this competition can be found above.

The Red Dot categories are roughly based on readers, rather than book formats or school divisions. 

• Early Years (ages 3-7) -- formerly Picture Books
• Younger Readers (ages 7-10) -- formerly Junior) -- (where Captain Underpants and Geronimo Stilton are the assumed reading level)
• Older Readers (ages 10-14) -- formerly Middle) -- (where Inkheart and The Lightning Thief are the assumed reading level)
• Mature Readers (ages 14-adult) -- (formerly Senior) -- (where Twilight and The Book Thief are the assumed reading level)

Shortlist titles are chosen by a committee of teacher-librarians from recent children's literature (first published in English within the past four years), with the goal of offering a range of books from around the world.

Criteria used for choosing books:

• of genres, e.g., fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic format
• of boy/girl main characters
• Balance of nationalities
• Published (in English) within the last 4 years 
• The shortlists will consist of 8 books at each level
• Preferably only #1 if in a series
• Preferably no repeat of an author from previous years
• Preferably books that encourage Text-Text, Text-Self, and/or Text-World connections for students (i.e., books worth talking about)

We Love MLA!

After working collaboratively with Ms Sparks on referencing as part of the Global Skills Programme and the IB Extended Essay, she has decided to encourage the students to follow up on our lessons by providing a supply of marshmallows for the library. Students who come to the library in their own time to ask for assistance with referencing or the use of any of our online tools such as NoodleTools, MLA , JSTOR or EDSCOHost.

What happened to my readers!

One of the main goals we have here in the Senior Library is to keep our students hooked on books. They come to us, after a rich experience in the DUCKS and Junior School, with a thirst, enthusiasm devotion for reading. However, in quite a number of students, this can drop off.  Understanding why this happens is, I think, the first step in working out ways to counter it.

I came across this article through the week which explores why this happens and provides some great ideas for the adults in these adolescents lives can do about it.

Major neurological changes take place during middle school years, and these developments affect the way pre-adolescents view the world. While these changes are happening internally, their lives are changing externally, too; homework demands increase significantly, athletics and other extracurricular commitments take up more and more time, and social interests become a principal focus.

Armed with insights into what happens to our readers we are able to work together to ensure that the well-entrenched habit and love of readings is something that our students have for life. As this article reminds us;

Every student deserves to be a reader. From succeeding academically to leading a fulfilling life, a love of reading will pay meaningful dividends every day. By demonstrating the importance of making time to read and respecting students’ choices, challenges, and interests, we can help preserve their love of reading throughout their middle school years while encouraging their natural fascination with the world and nurturing their critical thinking skills. It is not always easy, it is certainly not conventional, but it is very much worth the investment.

Working collaboratively with the Ministry of Education

The DCSG library team was invited to provide into a project run by the Singapore Ministry of Education. As part of their outreach to schools initiative, researchers and various stakeholders have been gathering together to discuss how to improve particular aspects of school libraries in local schools. Presenting at the roundtable event by Loh, Chin Ee, I shared with the group the approach we take to Non-Fiction Collection Development in our Senior School Library. 

See below a round up of the material covered during this workshop.

January 15, 2019 - Developing the School Library for Adolescents Roundtable

As part of the project's ongoing effort to reach out and impact school libraries, a School Libraries and Design Roundtable (the last in a series of three) was held on 15 January 2019 in partnership with the National Institute of Education (NIE)'s Office of Educational Research, hosted by Queensway Secondary School.

Ministry officials, school leaders, library administrators and educators attended the talk and spent a fruitful afternoon discussing how to better develop and maintain a book collection that is relevant and attractive to adolescents for reading and learning.

​The keynote speakers at the event were Dr Loh Chin Ee from NIE, Ms Jane Hayes from Dulwich College, Singapore, and Ms Jenna Emerson from Follett Singapore

Mandarin Book Club Meeting

Tuesday saw a good turn out for our Mandarin Book Club run by Ping Li. Apart from about the book The Trailing Spouse by Jo Furniss, there was a lot of information exchanged about the 'ins and outs' of the College which parents with developing English skills found very helpful.

The next meeting will be 9 am Thursday 14 February on Level 3 in the Senior Library. The group will be discussing Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez's book One Hundred Years of Solitude. If you would like to connect up with this group email ping.ping.li@hotmail.com 

We would love to set up other mother tongue book groups in the library. If you are interested in being involved with this please come to our mother tongue meeting next Tuesday - details below.

Parent Mother Tongue Meeting - Tuesday 22 February 8:30 am

Please come along if you have an interest in this. It will be a short meeting just to share that we would like to develop the mother tongue collection across the three school libraries and ask for the following:

1. A small list of recommended titles that are age and language appropriate for each library.
2. A request for good quality donations of language titles.
3. Request for help on where we can purchase the recommended titles. Most of our library suppliers have a limited stock of books in other languages.
4. Gauge interest of parents who may wish to read books in other languages to students.

Help name our library mascot

In Term 1 Hazel Lam (7D) and Isabella Khit (7D) worked with Mrs John to make our gorgeous library mascot. Now we need to decide on a name. Students have their thinking caps on at the moment and are making suggestions about what to call her - Hazel and Isabella maintain she us definitely a girl!

Week 17 - 7 to 11 January 2019

Welcome Back!

It's great as always seeing the students tumble back through the library doors after a break, returning books and borrowing new one. We love to talk to the students about their reading over the break and to welcome new students into the fold! I particularly enjoy introducing new students to our library and instilling a sense of anticipation as they realise what a great hub the library is start to understand what an important role reading plays in our College life here at DCSG.

The Master List of 2019 Reading Challenges!

My reading goal for 2019 is to read at least 100 books. Last year I managed to get through 103, so I feel confident that I will achieve my goal. 

Setting reading challenges can be a good way to find the motivation to read beyond your normal limit. Click here to see whether there one which appeals to you and your kids.

Things you could say to children to encourage a love of reading

One of the best parts of the job as a librarian is the opportunity to talk to patrons about what they are reading. I think most people who know will say I can be quite evangelistic about the joys of reading and I certainly feel my great purpose in life is make sure everyone I come into contact with 'sees the light' and converts, if they haven't already done so, into an avid reader.

To this end, I plan to use the following list of questions this year to vary my discussion starters. Parents, I think you will also find them a great way to open dialogue about books between you are your kids. Reading is not only a great thing to do, but it is a wonderful way to enrich a relationship.

1) You’ll never guess what I’m reading right now?
2) Tell me what you’re reading now? What’s it about? What made you pick it up? Can you tell me about your illustration?
3) Well, that’s reading too it? It doesn’t have to be a book! Of course, you can bring your comic or magazine in to show me!
4) I didn’t like it at all either. Why didn’t you like it?
5) I loved it because it made me feel… How did it make you feel?
6) Sometimes if I don’t fancy it, I don’t read either. What else do you like doing?
7) I think you might enjoy this one next…
8) Over the holidays I often re-read books, you can re-read anything you like, whenever you like!
9) OK, so imagine you have one question you’re allowed to ask the poet. What would it be? What about a question for the illustrator?
10) You should go and chat to… I know they like the same books as you too!
11) Why don’t you try reading it again to your brother or sister (or even a pet!) and see they like it?
12) My daughter often skips pages, especially if she’s reading a crime thriller and there’s lots of description – she says she just wants to get to the action! It’s fine to skip pages! You can even have a peek at the end of the book if you want!
13) I wonder if we can find another book together you might like?
14) Well done for sticking with it – did you feel it was worth it? What did you learn?
15) It’s OK not to understand every single word – I read a book called ‘Jude the Obscure’ when I was a teenager and there were SO many words that washed over me, but I DID understand the story and felt proud when I FINALLY finished it. And pretty devasted too – it was a really sad book.
16) Ooohhh! You know how this part of the story made us laugh? Why was it so funny? Perhaps we could include something like that in OUR writing? Here, I’ll show you how!
17) I wonder why this part made you think of that? Tell me more!
18) It’s fine to put it to one side – I often come back to books when I have more time!
19) I like reading on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket with the air conditioner on. What about you?
20) Would you recommend what you’re reading to anyone? Who? Why? Why not?
21) Well, if it is too hard to read, we can always read it together or find another one? Or, you could read along with an ?
22) Instead of ‘Show and Tell’ at the end of the week, we’re going to have a ‘Book Show and Tell’! You can come up and read us a part of whatever you’re reading – it can be ANYTHING – and tell us why you’re enjoying it OR why you’re not enjoying it!
23) Did any of the characters remind you of other characters you know? One of them reminded me a bit of… Shall I get the book so you can compare them?
24) You like drawing, don’t you? Why don’t you try and copy an illustration from the book or you could illustrate your part of the story?
25) Shall we see what we can find out about the illustrator?
26) I’m struggling to find something to read, actually! Can YOU recommend ME something?
27) Just sit back, relax and enjoy. I’m going to read to you…

Article by posted by author IAN EAGLETON on JAN 6, 2019

Learn Something New, Read Something True

Year Seven are currently focusing on non-fiction books as part of their study in their English lesson. Guided walks through the non-fiction section of the library have caused a flurry of interest and excitement in the students. This book display was put together by a couple of the students. The books have been chosen by the students themselves and are replenished  as they are checked out.

The Room Of Requirement

https://www.pottermore.com/features/room-of-requirement-infographic

The Reading Ambassadors and Hayes agree that libraries aren't just for books. They're often spaces that transform into what you need them to be: a classroom, a cyber café, a place to find answers, a quiet spot to be alone ... It's actually kind of magic – just like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter! Don’t you think every good school needs a place like this?

Readers know that the Hogwart’s Room of Requirements changes into whatever its visitors need it to be. It could be assumed that is different for every user, but of course, often people need the same thing.

Do you agree that our library already offers some of this magic? The Reading Ambassadors have certainly worked hard with the Library Team to make the library a very special place in our school. Can you suggest ways to complete this transformation and move the library into a different dimension altogether? Students can click here to get to the task activity which has been added to Firefly and spin us your best ideas.

Coffee and Conversations With an Author -   Gül Inanc - next Thursday 17 January

All parents are invited to an author talk with Gül Inanc which is next Thursday 17 January at 8.45am in the Senior School library. RSVP to fod@dulwich.org

Dr. Gül İnanc is a lecturer at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her areas of interest and expertise include amongst others modern diplomatic history of West Asia, history education and intercultural education for peace. Her recent published work focuses amongst others on intercultural and global cultural heritage education for peace and conflict resolution. She is the founding director of Opening Universities for Refugees (OUR), which is an independent initiative to build knowledge networks and consortia to offer higher education to communities in need. OUR is designed to help meet the higher educational needs of communities in protracted refugee/displacement situations globally. Amongst others, the initiative seeks to enhance international awareness and understanding of the need to contribute to the higher education of refugees and displaced people. Moreover, it brings together institutions which offer, or are willing to offer, higher education courses and/or diploma and certificate programs to refugees and displaced peoples.

Dr. İnanç will be introducing her new co-authored book Access to Higher Education, Refugees’ Stories from Malaysia which has recently been published by Routledge and will talk about the current refugee situation in South East Asia region as well as how we can offer support to the education of the displaced communities from Singapore.

FUBISIA Shory Story Writing Competition

It's the final push for the FOBISIA Short Story Competition - deadline for entries is next Tuesday 15th January. Details below.

2018 -19 Red Dot Book Awards

The Red Dot children's choice book awards is an annual event by the International School Librarians Network (ISLN) in Singapore. Students will have the opportunity to read the books in the category appropriate for them and vote on their . 

The Readers Cup Festival will be held on 25 April at the new German European International School. Students who are keen to be part of this are encouraged to read as many books as possible in the category suitable for them.

 Any students who want to order their own copies of the Red Dot Books can do so through Closetful of Books who will take their orders and the books will be delivered to . All details about this and links to book orders are below:

Mature Readers https://goo.gl/forms/eAiNcGieLoPJs2lD3 - Year 9 and above

Older Readers https://goo.gl/forms/Ggyt9xjuV5tajqS63 Year 7 & 8

Extreme Reading Photos

Extreme Reading photos have started to come into the library. Please send hard copies into school by Friday 15th February. Alternatively, email your images to sslibrary@dulwich.org and state your child's name and class.

Mother Tongue Book Collection

The teacher librarians are planning to develop the mother tongue book collections in our libraries and have arranged a short meeting with parents who speak other languages. They would like interested parents to help us select appropriate titles to be added to our libraries. This meeting will be held in the Senior School Library on Tuesday 22nd January at 8:30am.