Tower Hamlets Schools Library Services

Author: slsadmin

  • (blog) The Night Bus Hero

    (blog) The Night Bus Hero

    The Night Bus Hero by Onjali Q Rauf

    An interesting twist here – Hector, the main character, isn’t being bullied he IS THE BULLY! An adventure story unfolds with some lovely suspense moments thrown in to keep you reading to the next chapter.

    Hector is always in detention; his family are in despair and Hector just keeps getting nastier each day. Until he goes too far and picks on a homeless man. That starts a chain of events involving thefts from famous London landmarks (all along the N15 night bus route) and a daring finale at St Paul’s Cathedral.

    Onjali Q Rauf usually opens her readers’ eyes to some aspect of equality in our world and the ‘Night Bus Hero’ is no exception. She gently explores the pressures and causes of homelessness within an exciting and engaging story.

    There’s some good information at the end about homelessness to inform readers, teachers, and librarians and Onjali is donating a portion of her royalties to homelessness charities.

  • (blog) When Stars are Scattered

    (blog) When Stars are Scattered

    When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohammed

    Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their young lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care that Omar’s non-verbal brother needs.  But it’s better than their life in Somalia where their father was murdered and they feared for their lives. When Omar has the opportunity to attend school he knows it might be a chance to change their future. However it means leaving Hassan for many hours every day and Omar’s not sure he can do that – all they have is each other.

    Heartbreak, hope, and the joy of friendship come together in this graphic novel about day-to-day life in the biggest refugee camp in the world, always waiting for a better life.  It’s an important story, beautifully illustrated, with a strong message about the lives of girls and young women. The story was told to New York Times Bestselling author/artist Victoria Jamieson by Omar Mohamed, the Somali man who lived the story and who writes an endpiece about his life now.

  • Ken Wilson-Max on World Book Day

    Ken Wilson-Max on World Book Day

    Ken Wilson-Max, author and illustrator, was our headline act for World Book Day 2020.  Ken did a session of stories, talks and live drawing for classes in schools.

    Born in Zimbabwe and now living in London, Ken trained as a graphic designer before developing his storytelling and creative writing skills.  More recently he has embarked on publishing too, because he wanted to do something about the need for children from all backgrounds to see themselves in books.

    He had quite an exciting 2020:

    • He’s gained a nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
    • Won the STEAM AWARD for Early Years picture books
    • Is on the World Book Day Steering Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Association of Illustrators
    • Has been invited to be a judge for the Wales Book of the Year 2020
    • And in partnership with United Nations and Govt of Zimbabwe launched “17Promises” magazine, about taking action on the sustainable development goals of the UN.

    This event was kindly supported by Canary Wharf Group and all schools who subscribe to the Schools Library Service received a free signed copy of Ken’s award winning book “Astro Girl” and a copy of “Stars with Flaming Tails” a book of poetry by Valerie Bloom that he has illustrated, published this month

     

     

    We had lots of Astro Girl inspired artwork sent to us! Thank you all for taking part on the day.

  • Online storytelling

    Online storytelling

    Sankofa storytelling

    Storytelling with a global dimension and with links to philosophy for children from Global Learning London (formerly HEC GLobal Learning)

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxNd8my-BfVxmCf4yv4zeww

    COVID 19 is throwing up all sorts of big questions for us and our children. What wisdom do stories, old and new, hold to help us examine these questions about ourselves, our communities and how we are living on this earth? At HEC and CDEC we’re talking about COVID 19 in a different kind of way. We’re inviting children and their families, learners and their teachers to join the conversation by following us on @hecglobal and @cdec, as well as on facebook.com/SankofaStorytellingForDigitalAge

    Laura the Librarian

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6FHIQJJsy6CtyA819ar8kQ

    Our very own school librarian, Laura, reads stories. Email schoolslibraryservices@towerhamlets.gov.uk for additional story links (required for copyright reasons)

  • Creative Writing Competition : submit your entry

    Creative Writing Competition : submit your entry

    So you’ve written your story and poem, now it’s time to send it in!

    You can enter as many stories and poems as you like. You can send revisions (if you send something in and decide to make an edit) – if you do this, we’ll enter the latest version of the story or poem.

    The 2026 competition has now CLOSED

    Online entry form

    Important : Who is the competition open to?

    The Tower Hamlets Creative Writing Competition is open to:

    • Users of the Tower Hamlets Idea Stores (may attend any Tower Hamlets school or be home-educated)
    • Pupils at schools which have registrered for the competition with the Tower Hamlets Schools Library Servcies

    Important : What file formats can I send?

    The competition has now CLOSED.

    If you sent us a Google Drive link, please read the instructions below and re-send the entry or entries by 1st April.

    Anything recieved after this date will be disqualified.

    If you’re sending files, please only use one of the following formats:

    • .doc/.docx files
    • .txt files
    • .pdf for scanned work
    • .gif/.jpg/.png for illustrated work that needed to be scanned or photographed

    Please do not send:

    • .pages files or other formats only readable on Apple devices
    • .HEIC files (only readable on Apple devices)
    • Google drive or other cloud links (we can’t always access these)

    If we can’t access your work, it wont be read!

    Entry form (individual entries)

    The competition is now closed for entries. We’ll be informing winners as soon as the judging process is completed (expected late May/ eraly June) and posting the full list at www.towerhamlets-sls.org.uk/cwc26

    Please don’t email us asking when winners will be announced – you’ll just be sent the above paragraph!

    Entry instructions for teachers

    If you’re sending lots of entries from your class/ writing groups, please email or use WeTransfer

    email address : jacob.turner@towerhamlets.gov.uk

    Deliver to : Schools Library Services, The Shapla Centre, 19 Ensign Street, London E1 8JD
    Entries must reach Tower Hamlets Schools Library Services by 27th March 2026

    The following must be written on the first page of all entries

    • Pupil name (including surname!)
    • School
    • Year group
    • Category (Story or Poem)
    • The title of the work (must not be ‘Lost and Found’ – if there’s no title we’ll choose something appropriate!)

    Important

    We can accept the following:

    • .doc/.docx files
    • .txt
    • .pdf for scanned work
    • .gif/.jpg/.png for illustrated work that needed to be scanned or photographed

    We can’t accept:

    • .pages files, .heic files or other formats only readable on Apple devices
    • Your google drive/ DropBox/ Cloud links (we can’t always access these as they’re password locked or need permissions)

    [/su_expand]

    For prompts and ideas to start your writing, visit www.towerhamlets-sls.org.uk/getwriting/

    Competition Rules

    All entries must be received by the Schools Library Services by 27th March 2026

    Prize Giving:  September 2026 (date TBC)

    Content

    • Entries must be appropriate to the theme!
    • Entries should not be adaptations of, or sequels to other writers’ or poets’ original published work (such as stories, comic books, games or films), however alternative versions of fairy tales/myths and legends will be accepted.
    • Entries must not use existing characters from published work (e.g. Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, Dennis the Menace, Harry Potter, Marvel/ DC characters), including illustrations.
    • All entries must be the entrant’s own work, including all illustrations. All work shortlisted for a prize will be thoroughly checked and plagiarised writing and artwork will be disqualified.

    Plagiarism/ AI

    We screen all work and will disqualify any work that is plagiarised or AI generated- either copied and pasted directly from the internet or from other sources

    Examples of plagiarism

    • Submitting song lyrics as poems
    • Submitting verses/ lines from other peoples’ poems, even if you mix them with original verses.
    • Copying entire stories and poems by other writers
    • Tracing/ copying artwork by other artists
    • Making use of characters from other published work (unless out of copyright)

    Boring but important

    • Entries can be co-operative efforts. Any main prizes will be split equally between the named entrants.
    • Entries without entrant’s full name, school name and year group and competition category will not be eligible for judging.
    • Each page of printed work should have the entrant’s name written clearly on it
    • Entries must be written or typed on one side of the page only
    • Work should be in black or blue ink or text on white paper
    • No decorative fonts unless they directly contribute to the writing/storytelling
    • If you are illustrating your work, any colour artwork will be converted to black and white for the printed book
    • Bound/ stapled/ mounted work may be taken apart in order to scan to send to the authors
    • We will contact all winners via their school (or parents/carers if home schooled) in May/ June
    • Work will not be automatically returned to entrants but can be collected on request after the competition closes. Entries will not be kept beyond October 2026 and the Schools Library Services can take no responsibility for lost or damaged work.
    • The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

    Privacy notice

    Commended and winning entries to be published in eBook and print formats. By entering the Tower Hamlets Creative Writing Competition, entrants are giving permission for their work (including their name and school) to be published and distributed in these formats, and all supplied information including name and contact details to be held by the Tower Hamlets Schools Library Services. Copyright on poems and stories will remain with the author(s). Supplied information, including names and contact details, of competition entrants who do not win prizes will not be stored beyond the duration of the event.

    We reserve the right to edit any work (writing or illustration) for spelling, grammar or composition.

    Entrants may request that any work or personal information to be published in print be removed or edited prior to the publication being sent to print and no later than 4pm on 24th July 2026

    Entrants may request that any work or personal information published electronically (online or as an eBook) be removed or edited at any time. 

    To request changes to any information provided, please email schoolslibraryservices@towerhamlets.gov.uk

  • Global Learning London

    Global Learning London

    About Global Learning London

    Global Learning London (formerly HEC Global Learning) was incubated in the Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service (THSLS), of which we remain an integral part. Our work stands on the shoulders of giants. While still in the womb, we fed on stories, books, public service, curiosity and wonder. We continue to fly the flag for THSLS and all other libraries from which we, and so many other sparks, were born.

    What we do

    We work with children, young people and their wider communities, to cultivate optimism and action for a more just and sustainable world.

    Why we do it

    We believe that a kinder, more equitable world is possible, one where people and planet thrive to their full potential and beyond.

    How we do it

    • We work together with teachers and schools to open up spaces for learning and enquiry into how to be better facilitators for our children’s growth and where global perspectives and indigenous wisdoms are central.
    • We create workshops, festivals and encounters to forge connections between children, young people and their local communities. We ensure families, small local businesses, and community are part of the conversation, and that children’s voices flow into them, and are amplified within them.
    • We plant seeds for learner-led projects, then move out of the way and cheer them on as they grow. We seek to create environments where we are all learners – where power is truly shared.
    • We change systems. We lobby government and local councils to reform education, from the bottom up.
    • We do all this with curiosity, creativity and critical thinking, and with art and culture at the heart.
    • We are not afraid to challenge and be challenged. Because our cause is greater than our fear.

    For more about our projects and to get involved, visit www.globallearninglondon.org

    What is Global Learning?

    Global Learning, or Global Citizenship Education, aims to empower learners to engage and assume active roles locally, nationally and/or globally, to face and resolve global challenges and ultimately to become proactive contributors to a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. It builds on a diversity of world views and indigenous wisdoms to foster the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviours towards a kinder, more regenerative way of life.

    Global Learning is a key element of Target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Education: to ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

    [associated_posts]

  • Tower Hamlets Book Award 2020

    Tower Hamlets Book Award 2020

    Well done Remy Lai!

    Tower Hamlets Book Award Grand Finale

    Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai was voted the winning book of the Tower Hamlets Book Award 2020. Hundreds of pupils cast their votes online and Remy was one of the 7 guest authors and illustrators present at the finale to receive the news. Remy had joined us online from Australia despite it being rather late over there!

    Pie in the Sky was one of the 3 books being performed by schools for our annual presentation competition. Blue Gate Fields Juniors had filmed a wonderful piece for the event with some amazing masks – and they had a special Book Award cake, too!

    Also presenting were Virginia School with an amazing film trailer for Fire Girl, Forest Boy and Thomas Buxton School with a dramatization of Anna at War. Both the schools viewing and the authors scored the presentations and Virginia School were the proud winners.

    Lots of children sent in artwork and writing based on the books for the art competition, and images are below.

    The grand Finale was presented in partnership with East Wintergarden and Canary Wharf Group, and we’d like to thank all of their team for all of the IT and AV setup and for the video mixing on the day.

    Book Award Quiz:

    If you missed the quiz – see how you do with the questions that were set by the authors on the day.

    The score to beat is 8!

    1. What is Yanghao’s favorite sauce in Pie in the Sky?
    2. What is the name of Anna’s cat in Pie in the Sky?
    3. What was Camilla’s father’s profession in Empire’s End?
    4. What was the year 193 AD in Rome famous for (Empire’s End)?
    5. In Anna at War, what does the man in the barn pretend is his name?
    6. In Anna at War, how many words is Anna allowed to write in the Red Cross letters she sends to her parents?
    7. Where do lobsters do a wee from (Anisha, accidental detective)?
    8. Who dresses up as Elvis Presley in the first Anisha book?
    9. What is the name of the Agouti Paca in Fire Girl Forest Boy?
    10. What is the name of the fish in the Amazon that can swim up inside you if you wee into the river (Fire Girl, Forest Boy)? a Candiru fish b – Piranha  c – Armoured cat fish
    11. What is the name of Nik and Norva’s dog?
    12. Which number flat (and which Corner) do Nik and Norva live in?

    Answers at the bottom of the page!

     

    About the Book Award

    The annual Tower Hamlets Book Award is just one of the exciting events made possible through subscriptions to the Tower Hamlets Schools Library Services.

    The Book Award is for pupils aged 10 to 13. The aim is to encourage children to read, to bring children together to enable debate and discussion about books and to encourage children to share the pleasure of reading.

    Scroll down for information on:

    • The Shortlisted books
    • The finale
    • The art competition

     

    • [media-downloader media_id=”67851″ texts=”Download the shortlist PowerPoint”]
    • [media-downloader media_id=”67850″ texts=”Download Book Award guidelines”]

    The Shortlist

    We’ve got an awesome shortlist this year, and all subscribing schools will get a free set of these books courtesy of Canary Wharf Group

    Please note, that due to Covid, delivery of these books has been delayed, however we hope to dispatch them to you from 14th September.

    • Fire Girl, Forest Boy by Chloe Daykin
    • High Rise Mystery by Sharna Jackson
    • Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai
    • Anisha, Accidental Detective by Serena Patel
    • Anna at War by Helen Peters
    • Empire’s End by Leila Rasheed

    Additional sets of the 6 books will also be on sale from us at a discounted price (see below). Please email jacob.turner@towerhamlets.gov.uk to order.

    Pie in the Sky is currently awaiting reprinting and we are sourcing copies where we can. Free sets will contain all six books. Purchased sets that do not have this book will be priced at £30, or £40 with all 6 books.

    Art Competition

    Well done to all the winners of the art competition – prizes will be on their way!

    Download [2.24 MB]

    Please get in touch if any names in the slideshow are incorrect.

    Quiz Answers…

    1. Caramel
    2. Ginger
    3. Doctor or Surgeon
    4. It was a chaotic and dangerous time of civil war , known as the year of five Emperors.
    5. Peter Smith
    6. 25
    7. From their faces
    8. Uncle Ricky
    9. Steven
    10. Candiru Fish
    11. Ringo
    12. Flat 221, corner 1

     

  • (blog) A Pocketful of Stars

    (blog) A Pocketful of Stars

    A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby

    This book is an unusual mix of fantasy intertwined with real life family drama.  Safiya who loves playing video games, finds herself transported in and out of one when her mother becomes seriously ill.

    Mixed race Safiya, has a strained relationship with her Kuwaiti mother and decides to live with her father when her parents separate. She feels herself different from her mother and rarely sees eye to eye with her. When her mother becomes seriously ill, Safiya’s life turns on its head. In her trauma, Safiya finds herself transported back to her mother’s childhood in Kuwait. The rich description paints a mysterious and attractive image of Kuwait. Safiya decides that this is a magical game and that working through it will help her save her mother’s life.

    Shy Safiya is also dealing with adolescent angst of changing friendships; while Safiya is still enjoying the fun of being a child, her best friend Elle has discovered boys and a rift develops between them as they outgrow each other.

     

    We see in Safiya a strong girl who learns how to be resilient and realises the value of learning about the person her mother is and where she came from. She realises she has a lot more in common with her mother than she first thought. This story subtly deals with the pressures of divorce, illness and growing up with the most unusual backdrop of a fantasy world of a magic game. It is essentially a coming of age story.

  • Anti-Racism Statement

    Anti-Racism Statement

    Anti-Racism Statement from Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service and HEC Global Learning Centre

    June 2020

    Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service and HEC Global Learning Centre have always placed racial justice at the heart of what we do.  Black perspectives and the global dimension to the curriculum are at the core of our collection and balanced representation is at the core of our event planning.

    HEC Global Learning Centre exists to promote equality and social justice from a global perspective and has a proud history of projects, resources and training for schools to develop community cohesion, and is currently developing a CPD on Migration which will be available free to schools from September 2020 through the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning programme.

    Teachers have a crucial role in educating children about the racial injustices of the past, and which continue to manifest in the present, enabling an understanding of the issues at stake and nurturing within all children a pride in their heritage.  We support this by providing teachers with the resources they need.  Every crate of resources we send out includes resources that present a Black or global dimension.  We provide classroom book collections and school libraries with a range of fiction so that children can find themselves in books and stories as well as use story to learn about the experiences and lives of others.  We ensure our recommended booklists include all aspects of diversity.  We can provide schools with authors, poets, storytellers from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.

    We will renew our efforts to ensure we provide resources so that children in our schools can find themselves in books, can read about the history of the Black struggle, can celebrate the achievements of Black, Asian and other ethnic minority personalities, can understand their histories.

    The Schools Library Service is closed to teachers at the moment, so we can’t invite teachers to come and browse our collection, but we do invite teachers to get in touch with SLS or your primary school librarian to discuss how we can help and visit our website for links to resources and booklists and with HEC to discuss how your school can get involved in projects and access free or reduced-cost training.