Notes from The Library
Michaelmas Term Charity Events
The end of Michaelmas Term is nearly upon us , the Christmas decorations have gone up in the library this week and yet it barely seems five minutes since we were excitedly reopening our doors after such a long time away .
Oh ! How we missed the familiarity of the library : the neat rows of books , the comfy green armchair that everyone hopes to secure , the soft tapping of keyboards as prep is completed – but most of all , the students !
As with everywhere , this year we have been embracing all sorts of new ways of working . For example , we have been running a ‘ click and delivery ’ service . Students and staff browse our online catalogue and select their chosen titles . Then , every afternoon we bundle them all together and distribute them to tutor rooms , ready to be found next morning . What a lovely way to start your day – with a fresh book waiting for you !
We have also been adopting new technologies to help us : Teams , Flipgrid , a mobile library app , and we have even started a library Instagram to run alongside our well-established Twitter account .
But let ’ s not forget about our old favourites ! We dived straight back in with National Poetry Day , staff from all around school sharing their favourites with us ; then the First Years selected their BookBuzz titles , a fantastic scheme whereby they all get to choose and keep a book from a list of great new children ’ s titles ; and not one , but two , ‘ Drop Everything and Read ’ sessions have happened , with a beautiful silence falling over the whole school as staff and students alike , shared a peaceful 15 minutes of reading .
And one final thing – for the Christmas Holidays we see the long- awaited return of our excellent ‘ Pets Caught Reading ’ competition . With some fabulous prizes to be won , make sure you get your entry in !
Stephanie |
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Natalia |
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Librarians |
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New Head of Charity , Kate Newbould
When we returned to school in September 2020 , the Charity Committee held their first meeting and we welcomed Mrs McDowell to the team along with our new Head of Charity , Sixth Former Kate Newbould who we are sure will make a superb leader over the next 12 months . It is hard for us to immediately make any firm plans for March 2021 , the time when we should be running our annual “ Charity Week ”. The memories of the 2019 staff gunging and the ever popular 3-a-side football against the staff “ legends ” are still held fondly in our minds after the 2020 Charity Week , and indeed the biennial school walk , were both cancelled due to the pandemic . Whilst we are still holding out hope that the 2021 events will run , the charity team have already contributed some amazing ideas for fundraising and “ giving back ” that we are focusing on this term and it is certainly giving everyone in the school something positive to focus on .
The First to Fifth Year students are currently collecting donations of toys and gifts within their tutor groups for the Salvation Army Christmas appeal , the response we have had so far from both the students and parents has been wonderful and thank you so much for your support as always . The Sixth Form are also gathering unwanted / old winter coats for a local charity ; the coats of all shapes and sizes will be distributed in the local area by “ The Clothing Bank ” in the coming weeks . We are pleased to still be planning for our annual Christmas Jumper appeal on Wednesday 9th December and the amount we raise here will be given to our chosen charity this year : Peasholme Homeless Charity based in York .
Please do keep an eye on the Charity Twitter account for all our updates on fundraising across the foundation @ CharityPockPrep .
Helen Alexander – I / C Charities
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