We are delighted to announce that we have appointed a Patron of Reading for Eltham College, from September 2017. The Patron of Reading is a new scheme which aims to build a close relationship between a school and an author to encourage reading and promote creative writing. The author that our Librarian, Mrs Roche, has chosen is Matt Dickinson. Some of you will remember that Matt came on an author visit in the previous school year, and his stories about climbing Everest by the North Face went down very well with the boys.
Matt’s enthusiasm captured the boys’ imaginations, with his books set on Everest, which is an environment he knows very well. By appointing Matt as our Patron of Reading, we will be able to have closer and more exclusive contact with him. During the course of his time as our Patron, we intend to invite Matt to talk to Geography and Geology classes about working in extreme environments, and how climate change is affecting the areas he has visited as a cameraman for Discovery Channel. Matt will also make author visits to the school, and he will be involved with creative writing in both the Senior and Junior Schools.
If your son is in the Senior School in Year 7-10, you would have received a reading guide in the post compiled by our Librarian Mrs Roche. We hope that you have found this helpful, and that as we come in to the long break you will encourage your son to read widely. Reading, as I am sure you are aware, not only benefits skills for studying English, but has been shown in various reports to have an effect on all subjects, including mathematics. Wider reading develops empathy, which is one of the most important skills that young adults need to acquire. This reading booklet has also been sent out to all incoming Year 7 students in their Induction packs.
Finally, at the suggestion of the Headmaster, Mrs Roche has five suggestions for you of excellent young adult books which have been newly published. These are books which she has read this year, and they have been shortlisted for major literary prizes. They are well worth the read, either by you or your child. All would suit the older reader of around 12 plus.
Orange Boy by Patrice Lawrence (Winner of Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and shortlisted for the Costa as well)
The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard (Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal)
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Septys (Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal)
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal)
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge from the Costa Award winning author of The Lie Tree
