The annual Portsmouth Book Award process of reading and voting for the four shortlisted novels,organised by the School Library Service, has still continued despite the current challenging circumstances. The Discussion and Voting and the Celebration event for the winning author were unable to take place as planned, but the School Library Service and the school librarians worked hard to ensure that the winning author could still be selected by the dedicated Year 8 and 9 readers involved. I have enjoyed being able to continue working with the Springfield team and collate their votes via Google Classroom . The novels that made the shortlist were:

'Lost' by Eve Ainsworth

'Chinglish' by Sue Cheung

'Beauty Sleep' by Kathryn Evans

'Earth Swarm' by Tim Hall

After all the votes from the participating schools had been counted, Kathryn Evans was announced as the winning author on 10th June.

I also had the pleasure of  nominating one of the Springfield team of readers for the Reading Champion of the Year Award. Usually two pupils are awarded this accolade, but there must have been some strong competition this year as three readers shared the award, and I am delighted that Filip Lehota (9D) was one of them!

Included in my nomination was a quote from Filip that seems particularly appropriate at the present time:

"I love reading because it is like a portal to a different world - it lets one forget about reality and dive into somewhere new".

Thank you to all the Springfield team who took part in this process, and congratulations to Filip who is an excellent reading role model and a worthy winner. In due course, Filip will be presented with his prize of a Book Token and certificate, together with a copy of the winning novel personally signed by Kathryn Evans.

Mrs. Williams, Librarian.