On Friday 4 December three boys from Shiplake Lower School were chosen to try their hand at presenting on the radio. Gathering together and heading to Marlow with Mrs Eleanor Hallam, Ralph Burrows, Anthony Adamson and Will Lovatt were looking forward to their appearance on Marlow FM’s ‘Monthly Book Club’. A monthly feature, the show on the radio invites different people to contribute reviews of great reads. Mrs Hallam herself is a regular on this segment, giving book reviews and recommendations. However, it was time for the boys to take to the microphone, and they did so with enthusiasm and eagerness.
The pupils had been selected from Mrs Hallam’s English classes in order to give a review on their favourite books. The brief was to give a comprehensive review of titles that each of the boys would recommend for other pupils of their age. The boys chose to review The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George and Wonder by Raquel J Palacio. Mrs Hallam, along with Digital Librarian Miss Claire Knight, are organising for author Matt Dickinson, the man behind The Everest Files, to visit the College in February, and so this book was also a recommendation.
Will, having visited Africa before, was particularly moved by Bryce Courtenay’s novel The Power of One, which tells the inspirational tale of a young man named Peekay, who struggles in South Africa during World War II to find that it only takes one to change the world. Year 8 pupil Will took it upon himself to spend six months sleeping in a tent in his back garden in order to raise money for an African charity, and was keen to recommend this book as a moving and emotive story about doing good.
The boy’s appearances on the radio heralded a surge of action within Shiplake College to get more pupils interested in reading: the upcoming Drop Everything and Read event, whereby pupils and staff alike stop working to read for an hour, is sure to cause quite a stir. The upcoming author visit is also incredibly exciting for the Lower School boys, who are encouraged to spend time reading. Boys are also awarded with Reading Certificates throughout the term, once various tasks such as book reviews, summaries and writing tasks have been completed.
