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Library

T he start of our academic year brought the end of our annual Summer Reading Challenge, launched before the summer holidays. This gives English teachers a snapshot of their pupils’ personal reading choices from when they join us and as they progress through the Lower School. The challenge is judged on the quality of reviews and any additional material the pupils are inspired to produce, including artwork. The year group winners were Thomas Easterbrook, Maximilian Bal and Saihaj Malli, with Samar Sekhon and Dylan Mehta joint Third Form winners. Runners-up and highly commended were Josh Gill, Yuvraj Bansal, Krish Bhuva, Joshua Rhodes, Kasper Saihan, Monty Halkerston, Siddhanth Shah, Stephen Shaw, Lawrence Musetti, Adam Alshafi, Ryan Sabour and Suraj Datta.

new authors and genres in a selection of 18 titles that includes award-winning and classic novels, graphic novels and non fiction. Reading for pleasure and sharing a love of stories are the main focus of our Spring Term, with National Storytelling Week and World Book Day falling during this time. We were delighted once again to be joined by pupils from Merchant Taylors’ Prep for two entertaining performances by London based storyteller Lucy Lill. Her epic tales from Iceland and Japan introduced the audience to some memorable female heroes. Lucy also shared her tips for improving performance skills in a workshop run for members of Mr Hilton-Dennis’s Storytelling Club, which meets in the library twice a term.

October saw our annual activities in celebration of National Poetry Day. This was marked in the library by performances and workshops delivered by hip-hop artist and literacy champion Karl Nova. Sharing episodes from his life and the poems that emanated from them, he fully engaged the Upper Third Form pupils throughout their sessions. As part of Karl’s busy visit, small groups of Fourth Form pupils selected by the English Department were given a masterclass in how to create ‘Rhythm and Poetry’ rap poems based on their own interests and inspirations. The Autumn Term drew to a close with the launch of the Third Form’s second reading challenge of the year. The Big Read is designed to encourage them to branch out in their reading choices, exploring

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Taylorian 2023