Ok, who stole Summer?
It feels as though summer has just whisked by in a blur of frenzied activity here at the Hayridge. One minute summer was just starting, and the next minute there was a chill in the air and leaves were dropping off the trees. We'll use this post to draw breath and reflect on what's been happening over the last few weeks, as well as looking forward to some of the things we'll be doing as the evenings start to draw in. We hope you haven't missed us while we've been "off air", but rest assured that we're now back and ready to rock!
Summer Reading Challenge 2015
The highlight of our summer was of course the annual Summer Reading Challenge. Each year, we encourage schoolchildren to read 6 books over the summer vacation. Studies have shown that by continuing reading over the summer holidays, children are more likely to show improvement in reading ability and school performance the following term - see the analysis of the 2014 reading challenge here for more details - so it's something we take very seriously. This year, 406 children signed-up for the challenge, of whom 189 succeeded in finishing all 6 books. The first 100 finishers were rewarded with an invitation to a free magician's party! We're very pleased with the performance this year, but will be working on encouraging more of the starters to finish when we look at next year's challenge. In the meantime, a big WELL DONE to those 189 children who finished their books.
The Hayridge gets a new face...
We'd like to take this opportunity to introduce new Centre Assistant Liz Porter, who will be joining the team at the end of September. Liz replaces Sophie Ross, who has left to spend more time hob-nobbing with politicians as chair of the board of trustees of the children's charity Pre-School Alliance. Come along in October to say hello to Liz and welcome her to The Hayridge!
Top Author Visits The Hayridge
We are thrilled beyond words to welcome best-selling author Lesley Pearce to the Hayridge on the evening of Friday, September 25th. Lesley will be talking about her latest book "Without a Trace", and at her last library visit had the audience in stitches with her account of writing, publishing, and life in general. If you don't already have a ticket, we have a few remaining - contact the library counter on 01392 388400 or cullompton.library@devon.gov.uk . Tickets are a snip at £3!
OnCourse Taster Session
Plymouth-based training organisation OnCourse SouthWest will be with us on October 16th to host a free taster session for a number of courses which they hope to run at The Hayridge in January (depending on the number of sign-ups they obtain). The courses include: Cake Decorating; Creative Writing; Crochet Beginners; Dressmaking; and Decoupage. Full details are available at the library counter, where you can also find a brochure of all the courses they run in the Plymouth area - if there's one you'd like them to run here, just let us know, and if we can get enough people interested, we might be able to persuade them to run one here too. We'll need you to sign-up for the tasters - just give us a call on the number shown above if you're interested.
Fancy Building a Spitfire?
Well now you can, courtesy of Airfix! We have bought a number of model kits which we will be building on Saturday October 17th starting at 10:00. We'll provide the kits, glue, and paint so you can build your very own tribute to the Battle of Britain, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. Places are limited, and cost a very reasonable £2 with everything included. There'll also be a special Spitfire model display on the day, with over 40 Spitfire models of various types and markings to illustrate the history of this remarkable and iconic aeroplane. Don't miss it! (Children under 10 will need to be accompanied by a parent please. Children over the age of 70 can take part for free.)
Yet more aeronautical stuff...
As if that wasn't enough, our Lego club will be working on a special project on Saturday October 3rd, as they set about building a huge model of the Sopwith Camel WW1 fighter. If you fancy joining them, come along and add your name to the list of children taking part. Incidentally, there'll be big news about the Lego Club in the next instalment of the Hubbub, so watch this space...
And finally...
Finally, just a quick update on our plans to open the library in the evenings and Saturday afternoons. Work on this has been taking place over the summer - which has been the biggest reason for the lateness of this blog post - and is on course for introduction in November. We're looking for a few volunteers to test using the library in the evenings, so if you'd like to be a guinea pig, stop by at the library counter and have a word with the staff.
'Gutenberg'
The highlight of our summer was of course the annual Summer Reading Challenge. Each year, we encourage schoolchildren to read 6 books over the summer vacation. Studies have shown that by continuing reading over the summer holidays, children are more likely to show improvement in reading ability and school performance the following term - see the analysis of the 2014 reading challenge here for more details - so it's something we take very seriously. This year, 406 children signed-up for the challenge, of whom 189 succeeded in finishing all 6 books. The first 100 finishers were rewarded with an invitation to a free magician's party! We're very pleased with the performance this year, but will be working on encouraging more of the starters to finish when we look at next year's challenge. In the meantime, a big WELL DONE to those 189 children who finished their books.
