Monday 7 November 2022
On Monday afternoon, a group of our Year 7 students were invited to meet prizewinning author, Sally Nicholls, and hear her talk about her latest book 'Out of the Rubble'...
It's early 1945, the War is nearly over and across the country, evacuees are returning home. Judy is excited to be back in London, reunited with her mum. But when she arrives, she finds everything has changed. Her house has been destroyed, her mum seems distant, and her dad is still away with the army. And all around her, London is different too: there are bombsites on every corner and the danger of war still looms. As Judy explores the city, she begins to see that the bombsites are more than just rubble. Can they help her to remember what her home used to be like? And will she ever be able to get her old life back? With themes of loneliness, family relationships, and finding out what home really means, award-winning children's writer Sally Nicholls brings to life the experience of living through the Second World War.
Our school was able to take part in this event thanks to Oxford University Press (OUP) and their 'Raise A Reader' tour, which has travelled around the UK bringing authors and illustrators to schools. OUP also donated 50 fantastic books to our school library!
It was a brilliant opportunity for the students to hear firsthand about the process of writing books. This being the first time many students had met an author, they were eager to ask Sally questions about how she found her inspiration for writing and developed her plots and characters. Our students left feeling inspired, not only to read all of Sally Nicholl's books (which are available in our school library), but also to write their own stories!