Lancashire Book of the Year

Lancashire Book of the Year

Our school was selected to take part in the judging of Lancashire Children's Book of the Year award 2019 and from start to finish, the process was wonderful. Year 9 students volunteered to read a number of books, in their own time, and take time to make judgements on each. They had to feedback their finding at conferences with other schools, demonstrating confidence, integrity and honesty. They were mature and made outstanding contributions to the judging process, commenting on plot, authenticity of characters, how engaging the books were and how they found the writer's style and craft.

Following this, there was a short list and they had to read all of the books on this list, finishing with a vote for their favourite. 

At the announcement and celebration day, we visited UCLAN, where the shortlisted authors were invited to give a seminar on their books and how they got into writing. It was amazing to hear this and it was followed by the students having a chance to have their say about what Lancashire Book of the Year had done for them. Our students said it had helped them grow in confidence and had given them a voice. Students then had the opportunity to meet the authors, which was a fantastic way to finish off the experience.