1. Staff Homework! This all began when Mr. Baker challenged Ms Webb the librarian to read Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, then Ms Arthur said read… So Ms Webb issued all staff with a challenge, a writing task and here is the result… not everyone has quite finished yet, so watch this space.

2. I read Pigeon English By Stephen Kelman It was… one of the funniest books I have ever read! The story is told by the main character Harrison Okupu (Harri). The book covers some very serious topics; gang violence and murder are just two of them! But through the innocent eyes of Harri, it doesn’t seem so real and dangerous- he plays a detective trying to work out who is behind a murder on his estate. He gets in to all sorts of trouble with his older sister and her friends as well as other residents on the Dell Farm estate and is constantly ducking and diving to stay out of trouble. The book also deals with the harsh truth of gang violence and really hits hard. A book I wont forget and a character that still makes me smile My name is Miss Sparkes and I teach BTEC, Maths & RE Post Card

3. I read The Quiet American By Graham Greene It was about a British journalist and an American soldier in the special forces who are both sent to Vietnam and fall in love with the same girl. It helped me to imagine what life might have been like for Westerners who were sent to Vietnam during the war and the sort of things they might worry about apart from the war. My name is Ms Davey and I teach History. Post Card

4. I read One Child By Torey Hayden It was emotional!!! The book is a true story, the challenges that face the teacher and the child are huge. It is sad to read about the reasons behind the difficulties faced by the child. It was inspiring to read about the successes they made together. I don’t read a lot but this series of books by Torey from her educational psychology career are really interesting. They are hard to read for the emotional context as there are many true/adapted true stories. My name is Mr Davey and I teach P.E. Post Card

5. I read The Ballad of Peckham Rye By Muriel Spark It was really fun to read. The book tells the story of a Scottish man who arrives in Peckham and causes problems for some of the people living there. It was really interesting to find out what Peckham was like in the 1950s and thinking about how it has changed since then and how it has stayed the same too. My name is Ms Davey and I teach History. Post Card

6. I read This Thing of Darkness By Harry Thompson It was about Charles Darwin and his now famous voyage around the world on a ship named the Beagle where he gathered crucial evidence and observations that led to his theory of natural selection. A historical fiction, it focused on the touching relationship between Darwin and the ship’s captain Robert Fitzroy and their increasingly opposing viewpoints on God and Creation among other things. Darwin went on to publish his theories and became famous, Fitzroy pioneered the Met Report and descended into madness…. A brilliant, gripping and thought-provoking novel – the pages just turned themselves! My name is Winston Lo and I teach Science. Post Card

7. I read The Day of the Triffids By John Wyndham It was probably my favourite book that I read this summer. It is a science-fiction book which is not a genre I usually read. I liked it because it was set in London and the South East of England. It made me think about how people behave in a crisis, the sort of world we live in now and the sort of world I would like to live in. My name is Ms Davey and I teach History. Post Card

8. I read Storm Front (Book 1 of The Dresden Files) By Jim Butcher Harry is the only real wizard in the yellow pages. HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment The first in a series of fast paced books full of action, comedy, strong characters and magic as this private eye battles Vampires, faeries, demons and evil wizards. Please don’t blame me if your grades start to suffer if you read all 14 books. My name is Mr Evans and I teach Science. Post Card

9. I read The Submission By Amy Waldman Written by a New York Times journalist, the Submission of the title is a sealed bid to design the memorial to be built on the site of the World Trade Centre post 9/11. The winner turns out to be an American Muslim, Mohammad Khan. The families of those who died in the attack do not want the memorial built by him, and public opinion is mixed. And what is his motivation for designing this? An intelligent and thought-provoking look at some of the debates which arose in America after 9/11. My name is Mr Pinfold and I teach English and Film Studies. Post Card

10. I read The Museum of Innocence By Orhan Pamuk It was the longest book I read this summer! Sometimes I found it really easy to read and sometimes I felt like it was just too long! It was set in Istanbul, the capital of Turkey, and tells the story of a man who becomes obsessed with a woman. It was really interesting to learn about Turkish culture and there really is a Museum of Innocence in Istanbul now – I hope I get to visit it one day! My name is Ms Davey and I teach History. Post Card

11. I read A Game of Thrones By George R.R. Martin It was excellent! The book is described as an epic fantasy. I like how each chapter is told from a different character’s point of view and how that leads to many plot twists and intrigues. I like how as a reader that you know different pieces of information that all start to piece together at the end. Plus the battles and dragons make it an exciting read! My name is Miss Lewis and I teach Science. Post Card

12. I read Animal Farm By George Orwell It was a great short novel with straightforward language, memorable characters and an incredible ending. It’s about a gang of animals who take over a farm and run it themselves. Their motto is ‘four legs (animals) good, two legs (humans) bad’. But are all the animals really good? I recommend it to anyone of any age. It is an ageless, timeless book that you’ll return to again and again, discovering new things every time. My name is Lewis Dawber and I teach people. Post Card

13. I read India By Patrick French It was a non-fiction book all about how India has changed since they became an independent country in 1947. I read it because I am going to go to India for Christmas and I wanted to know what it might be like. I have read another book by Patrick French about the Indian independence movement and I really like the way he writes. He talks about big themes but also tells really interesting stories about individual people that are funny or sad or just very unusual! My name is Ms Davey and I teach History. Post Card

14. I read Pig Iron By Benjamin Myers It was gritty, honest and brutal yet poetic and beautiful. It tells the tale of John-John Wisdom, recently released from a young- offenders institute, a young man with a dream; a dream to escape from the shadow of his violent father Mac – infamous bare-knuckle fighter. Told in multiple narrative voice and with a shocking and tragic conclusion, Pig Iron has me gripped. My name is Miss Evans and I teach English. Post Card

15. I read Shelter By Harlan Coben Mickey Bolitar is having a troubled time: his dad has just died; his mum is in rehab and he is forced to go and live with his uncle. The one bright spot is meeting his girlfriend, Ashley. Life is starting to get better for Mickey until one day, Ashley vanishes. Soon Mickey gets caught up in a mystery. What has happened to Ashley? Is his father really dead? Why is the paramedic who took his father's body away in a picture from the 1940s on his crazy neighbour's mantelpiece? My name is Miss Blunden and I teach History. Post Card

16. I read Candide By Voltaire It was something I read as a philosophy student and then I heard a writer on the radio, say that he read it every ten years, as it has different meaning for each stage of your life. I was shocked to find how violent, sexist and racist it was and that I must have either blocked that out of my mind or it has fundamentally developed my humanitarian outlook. It’s a pacy adventure story of an innocent/ naïve young man, his choices to be or not to be, affected directly by those people he meets along the way. I love a good classic. My name is Ms Porthouse and I teach Explorers. Post Card

17. I am still reading Atlas Shrugged By Ayn Rand This is the last book I started this summer and so far I really like it. It is very long so I don’t think I’ll finish it until half term! It is a really fascinating story about all the men of talent disappearing for apparently no reason and how things stop working without them. My favourite thing about the book is that the lead character is a really strong female who is very clever and successful. I don’t know how it finishes yet but I can’t wait to find out! My name is Ms Davey and I teach History. Post Card

18. I read Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief By Rick Riordan It was a really good read, I preferred it to the film, it was amazing to see the difference between the book and the film, the book had me using my imagination more. A very good read. My name is Miss Davies and I teach Design and Technology. Post Card

19. I read The Invisible Man By H.G.Wells. It was a real page turner. The story was first published in 1897 and so is set at the end of the Victorian Era, but the story is thrilling and as it is a science fiction story the plot seems very modern for its time. A stranger arrives at an inn on a snowy winter’s day. He keeps his hat and gloves on and his scarf wrapped over his face. No one can see what he looks like. No one could guess that he had found a way of turning himself invisible. What would you do if you could be invisible? This man turns to crime. He steals and hurts other people for his own gain, but he is alone. How can he be stopped? My name is Ms. Kenton and I teach Languages. Post Card

20. I read Persepolis By Marjane Sartrapi It was a really powerful account of a young girl growing up in war torn Iran. It was an unusual choice for me because it is a graphic novel and I’ve never thought that I would enjoy stopping, to make sense of the pictures, as well as the words. However having read this book, I’m a graphic novel convert. The pictures add so much in terms of the places, people and experiences in the book, that I found myself scanning them for every little detail. My name is Roisin McEvoy and I teach English. Post Card