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Books and so much more!
Saturday, 24 December 2022
Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Christmas Advent Calendar
We were fortunate to be granted funding from the Siobhan Dowd Trust to enable us to purchase books to create our very own Advent Calendar. Students were very excited to open (and borrow) the books each day, as you can see from the photos!
Thursday, 15 December 2022
Suggested staff reading
StAnza Webinars and Poetry Competition
Image from Stanza
Check out the StAnza YouTube channel for some fantastic webinars on how to read, write and present your poetry.
Stanza are also inviting young poets to submit their own work and six young makars will be selected to have online group and one-to-one mentoring with poet and SYM lead tutor, Jen Hadfield during January and February 2023. They will then be invited to give a reading of their poetry as part of StAnza, Scotland’s International Poetry Festival in March, 2023.
The deadline for submissions is 23rd December 2022 - you can find more information here: https://stanzapoetry.org/projects/scotlands-young-makars/
Monday, 5 December 2022
Hour of Code
This week is Computer Science Education Week and we're celebrating this with an Hour of Code. Our computer experts will only be able to code on the desktops, no other games this week!
Click here: Hour of Code
Update: Thank you to everyone who participated in our coding week, and well done to our 3 competition winners. It was very difficult to judge but fortunately some of our Advanced Higher Computing students stepped in to help judge. Congratulations to our overall winner, Ian who created an excellent Etch a Sketch design.
Thursday, 1 December 2022
Advent Calendar
The sixth year library assistants helped wrap all the Advent books and they will be opened each day by a pupil before being added to our collection.
Keep an eye on our Twitter feed to see the books and the full collection is featured here: Advent Calendar.pptx
Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Storytelling in the Library
We were delighted to have been awarded funding from Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland to enable us to take part in the Big Scottish Story Ripple.
Storyteller Gerry Durkin joined us in the Library on 22nd November and regaled us with mysterious stories and hilarious songs. Fortunately he did not leave any screaming brownies behind!
Our students really enjoyed Gerry's performance and we're looking forward to hearing the student's stories.
Monday, 21 November 2022
Book Week Scotland 2022
Pupils in S1 and S2 enjoyed a presentation on some excellent Scottish books during their library lessons and were able to borrow some fabulous books from the Book Week Scotland display.
Friday, 11 November 2022
Remembrance Day
As well as observing silence at 11am throughout the school, this year we marked Remembrance Day with a display of war poetry and books in the Library and library lessons on Tom Palmer's new novel, Resist.
Monday, 7 November 2022
Non-Fiction November
This month is Non-Fiction November and we are celebrating all non-fiction books! Check out the display in the library.
We also discussed some more of the Royal Society Young People's Book Prize books at Book Group.
Friday, 4 November 2022
Wizardry event at Armadale Academy
What better way to celebrate Hallowe'en than the inaugural Induction of the Armadale Academy of Magic and Wizardry?
Thank you to all my pupil and staff helpers, especially Madame Divers with her fabulous cakes and Professor Russell's Divination sessions.
Thursday, 3 November 2022
Family Learning - Literacy
It was great to meet parents and students at our Family Learning event on 2 November. I was able to talk about two of my most favourite things: books and reading for pleasure!
Here's a link to the Sway presentation and the suggested reads:
Monday, 31 October 2022
Dyslexia Awareness Week
Dyslexia Awareness Week Scotland runs from 31 October to 6 November 2022. We have many dyslexia friendly books in the Library - just ask Mrs Lumsden for some recommendations.
There are also plenty of other dyslexia friendly resources, including books in our staff section.
Thursday, 1 September 2022
Audio Books
Access to Audio Books: https://westlothian.borrowbox.com/eaudiobooks/young-adult/featured
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Friday, 24 June 2022
Happy Holidays!
Have a wonderful summer holiday, everyone, and make sure you keep reading!
I'm looking forward to catching up with my TBR (To Be Read) pile of books, which includes many recommendations from pupils and staff. See you in August.
Thursday, 16 June 2022
Carnegie Award 2022
We are delighted to announce that our former book of the month, October, October by Katya Balen, won the Yoto Carnegie Award this year.
Our book groups have been shadowing the Yoto Carnegie Award shortlist and you can see videos about the shortlisted books here: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1560615341569081345.
There is more information about all the books on the Carnegie website.
Thursday, 9 June 2022
Empathy Day 2022
Empathy is our ability to understand and experience someone else’s feelings. It builds stronger, kinder communities. It’s a crucial life skill that young people need in order to learn, thrive and contribute. We’re not born with a fixed quantity of empathy – it’s a skill we can all learn.
Research shows that books are an important tool to help develop empathy - when we identify with book characters, we see the world from their point of view.
Here are just some of the Empathy superheroes from Armadale Academy
Monday, 9 May 2022
Mental Health Awareness Week
Health and Wellbeing @ Armadale Academy
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| Mental Health Non-fiction |
Mental Health Awareness Week takes place from 9th to 15th May, 2022.
This is the ideal time to show off the fantastic new books we have added to our Health and Wellbeing Collection. Our Student Voice representatives wanted to see more mental health books in the Library and provided funding to enable new stock to be purchased. And here it is!
If you like more information, please click on the image below:
If you would like information about some more online resources to help with health and wellbeing, please see here (click on image)
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| Photo from Unsplash |
May the Fourth Be with you...
Star Wars Day 2022
Younglings and Padawans signed up to join Jedi Masters in the Armadale Skywalker Academy. They were treated to a showing of Rogue One and participated in activities such as word searches and mazes.
The force was strong with these ones and thank you to everyone who participated, especially the guardians of the door!
Thursday, 21 April 2022
Study Skills
Wednesday, 16 March 2022
Carnegie Prize
Carnegie Prize 2022
The shortlist for the Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Medals has been announced and we will be discussing these books in the Junior and Senior book groups.You are very welcome to join our book groups - just ask Mrs Lumsden for more details.
The books will also be available from the school library.
Here is the shortlist: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1560615341569081345
Here is the shortlist: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1560615341569081345
Thursday, 10 March 2022
StoryCon
StoryCon
Do you like to write stories, poems, plays or draw? Why not sign up for the Scottish Book Trust's StoryCon. It's free, it's online and it's a chance to meet other budding writers. Click on the link below for more information and to sign up:
Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Scholastic Book Fair
The Scholastic Book Fair has arrived!
There is absolutely no obligation to buy from the book fair, and many of the books are available from the school library.
The books will be on display in the school library, and pupils can create a wish list to take home, noting the title and cost of the book they would like from the Book Fair. Parents and carers can then pay for the book at https://bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/pay Pupils can also use their World Book Day token toward the cost of the order so do not forget to deduct £1. (One token per pupil.)
You can also see a list of the books available by clicking here: http://www.bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/bookcases
Pupils should then return the wish list with the payment reference and a note of the book purchased to the library. The book will be ordered, and delivered to the school to give to the pupil.
Wednesday, 2 February 2022
E-Book of the Month
February's E-book of the month is Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland.
Henry Page is a hopeless romantic who's never been in love. Grace Town, who walks with a cane, wears oversized clothes, and rarely showers, isn't the dream girl he imagined - but when they are both chosen to edit the school paper, it doesn't take long for him to start falling for her. It's obvious there is something broken about Grace, and Henry wants to help her put the pieces back together again. But some things can't be fixed.
You can borrow e-Books and audio books from West Lothian Libraries' Borrowbox collection - ask Mrs Lumsden for your borrower barcode and PIN and you'll be able to download books direct to your device! 💖
Tuesday, 1 February 2022
LGBT+ History Month
February is LGBT+ History Month and we have some great books available to borrow in the library, including those showing on our display.
You can find some great information on the Young Scot website, including this video which tells the history of LGBT+ rights in the UK
Monday, 31 January 2022
Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place every year on 27 January and we marked this year with our display in the Library and talked about it with our S1 and S2 Library classes. We also discussed Tom Palmer's book, After the War, which is available to borrow in the Library.
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Sunday, 30 January 2022
Book Group - Burns Night
The junior book group celebrated Burns' Night on 25 January with a piece of shortbread and wee drop of Irn-Bru.
Jennifer and Ava-lynne did a fantastic recitation of Burns' poetry for us and we discussed his popularity all around the world.
Burns Night 2022
This year we celebrated Burns' Night with a presentation to the S1 and S2 classes, who were inspired to create poems for our Valentine's display.
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Thursday, 6 January 2022
Happy New Year
Start 2022 with a classic...
Happy New Year, everyone and we hope you had a wonderful Festive Break. We are looking to hearing what you read over the holidays.
My New Year resolution is to read more of the classics that seem to have been in my "to be read" pile forever. Why don't you check out some of the classics we have in the Library too?
January's E-book of the Month
Again Again by E. Lockhart
Again Again follows various possible alternative storylines about a teenager trying to come to terms with her younger brother's drug addiction while pursuing romantic interests of her own.
When Adelaide Buchman's younger brother succumbs to a drug overdose, she saves his life. In the aftermath, looking for distraction, she becomes a stylish, bright charmer who blows off school and falls madly in love - even though her heart is shattered.
Adelaide is catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will fall in and out of love a thousand times while finally confronting her brother, their history, and her own strength.
and this book is available to download from Borrowbox now. See Mrs Lumsden for more information on how to borrow eBooks from West Lothian Libraries.
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