Portsmouth Longer Novel Award ceremony

On Wednesday, Ms Barkworth had the pleasure of taking our fantastic team of student librarians on a special trip to Portsmouth.

We began with a visit to Waterstones, where students carefully selected a fantastic range of new books to enrich our school library. We’re excited to share these fresh additions with the rest of the school community very soon!

In the afternoon, we attended the prestigious Portsmouth Longer Novel Award ceremony. This year’s winner, Mark Illis, author of Running Away for Beginners, gave an inspiring talk about how his personal experiences—particularly with teenage cancer—have shaped his writing. He also spoke passionately about the importance of character development in storytelling, sparking thoughtful questions from our students during the Q&A session.

A special congratulations goes to Sophie G, who was proudly awarded the title of Six Villages Reading Champion 2025 and received a certificate in recognition of her achievement.

It was a truly inspiring day celebrating books, writing, and the joy of reading!