Novelist hands over some advice
GRAPHIC NOVELIST TOM FOSTER
Last week saw the Joseph Wilson Library Resource Centre transformed Marvellously when a group of students from S2 took a break from their normal studies in English to try their hand at creating graphic novels under the guidance of graphic novelist Tom Foster. Tom has been a professional artist for nearly ten years and he has drawn comics for 2000AD and The Judge Dredd Megazine.
The visit was arranged by Cathy MacIntyre, library resource centre manager, and was part funded by the Scottish Book Trust under their Live Literature scheme.
This visit was particularly beneficial to the group as they have already undertaken the study of “Earth, Planet Universe” a graphic novel on the life of Scottish explorer John Muir. As well as learning first hand about the technical aspects of creating this popular kind of story, pupils had the opportunity to pit their skills against the professional when class and writer worked on the same story brief with amazing results.
Tom was very impressed by the quality of the work produced by our budding graphic novelists and an enjoyable afternoon was had by all. Thank to Tom for giving up his time for this fantastic experience. PUBLIC SPEAKING The biannual Mairi MacIntyre Public Speaking Competition for our associated primary schools recently took place in the school theatre and this year’s topic was “First Minister for the Day.”
The event organised by Mrs Louisa McGraw, depute headteacher, was the culmination of weeks of preparation which started with all pupils working with Mrs Mary Jo Burton, principal teacher of English, who helped pupils to develop the necessary skills to speak to a large audience.
Following on from this pupils worked tirelessly with their teachers to research their topics and produce their speeches explaining what they would implement if they were indeed First Minister for the day. This year the competition was judges by Mrs Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw and Miss Clare Louise Verrecchia who is a final year law student at the University of Strathclyde.
The judges both commented on the high standard of speeches with the competition being exceptionally tight on the day.
That said the winning team of Lucy, Jordan and Juliana came from St Patrick’s Primary School New Stevenston who wowed judges with their solutions to Scotland’s homelessness problem. THE SUTTON TRUST UK SUMMER SCHOOLS 2017
The Sutton Trust Summer Schools are held each year in order to give S5 pupils the chance to experience a week in the life of a university student. These weeks include study within academic areas of interest, social activities and advice on UCAS related topics. Applications are now open for the above with places available at the following universities: Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh and Imperial College London to name a few. The closing date for applications is March 2.
Any pupils interested in applying should see Ms McCrone (depute headteacher for senior school). For further information students can check out www. summerschools. suttontrust.com OPTION CHOICES
Our current third year cohort are currently in the process of choosing their options for moving into fourth year.
They have been meeting with Pupil Support staff and members of the Senior Leadership Team over the last few weeks to discuss their possible career intentions and get advice in order to make their decisions. REGISTER TO VOTE
With the reduction in the in the voting age from 18 years old to 16 years old in Scottish elections we at Taylor are encouraging our young people to register to vote in this year’s Scottish Council elections.
If any young person is 16 years old on or before May 4 they will be eligible. It is easy to apply to register online now at www.gov.uk/registerto-vote it only takes a few minutes. Further information for voters can be found at www.aboutmyvote.co.uk DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Thursday, March 9 – S5/ S6 Curriculum Choice Meeting, 7.00pm
Thursday, March 23 – S3 Curriculum Choice Information Meeting, 7.00pm