Hackney school children commended by award winning author
Award winning children’s author Kate Saunders judged 100 Hackney pupils at Hackney’s annual Carnegie Competition.
11 local schools took part in the competition, which celebrates the Carnegie Prize – one of the most prestigious awards for children’s literature.
A group from each school presented their thoughts on one of the shortlisted books, using a range of visual art, drama, dance and music, at Petchey Academy, on 16 June.
The winning school was Clapton Girls’ Academy, whose students delivered a moving presentation. The panel of judges were impressed by the students’ inspiring presentation on Patrick Ness’s book, The Rest of Us Just Live Here. The young women used drama to portray their highly original interpretations of the book.
Kate Saunders was very grateful to attend the day and said: “This has been a fantastic experience - all of the presentations were brilliant.”
The panel of judges also included staff from Hackney Learning Trust and Jo de Guia, owner of Victoria Park Books, who arranged for the author to visit Hackney.
“The Carnegie Competition is a wonderful way of getting young people talking about literature and expressing what the stories mean to them through methods such as drama, that really bring the books to life. It’s fantastic that the pupils also get to meet an award winning author, and ask questions about what it means to be a writer. Congratulations to Clapton Girls’ Academy and all those who took part and produced some fantastic presentations.”
