Month: February 2022

Coventry Inspiration Book Awards: The Second Eviction

This week, we lose another fabulous book from each category.

What’s The Story? say goodbye to What Happened To You? by James Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George, an inspiring and thought provoking book about disability, addressing how a disabled child might want to be spoken to. What happened to you? Was it a shark? A burglar? A lion? Did it fall off?  Every time Joe goes out the questions are the same . . . what happened to his leg? But is this even a question Joe has to answer? A ground-breaking, funny story that helps children understand what it might feel like to be seen as different.

If you loved this book, try Amazing by Steve Antony, a celebration of friendship and being yourself with a positive message about celebrating diversity. The perfect platform to start conversations about the importance of understanding and acceptance.. A little boy and his pet dragon are the very best of friends. They laugh, they sing, they dance, they snooze. They are both amazing – just like everyone else!

Telling Tales lose Genie and Teeny by Steve Lenton this week which is the first in a series of magical adventures. When Grant the Genie is cast out of Genie World, he lands on Earth with a big, fat bump! Without a lamp to call home, he has to settle for an old cracked teapot instead. Grant is very lonely until he meets the puppy, Teeny. Then Genie and Teeny are kidnapped by the evil purple-loving Lavinia Lavender, and find themselves on-course for a rollercoaster of an adventure – when all they really want is a place to call home…

If you loved this book, there are two more fabulous books staring Genie and Teeny to continue the adventures. Or you could try Buck N Bronco Hit The Road by Guy Bass, illustrated by Steve May, which is laugh out loud funny, and packed with jokes and puns. Buck ’n’ Bronco are mascots at the Happy Ranch theme park. It’s their mission to Bring the Happy™ to your day! But when Happy Ranch is demolished to make way for a futuristic new park, Buck ’n’ Bronco find themselves without a home and without a job. They head out on the road, determined to prove they’ve still got what it takes. Can Buck ’n’ Bronco Bring the Happy™ out in the real world, or are they doomed to be yesterday’s mascots?

Hooked On Books say goodbye to The Small Things by Lisa Thompson, Inspired by a true story, a ground-breaking robot helps friendship blossom in this poignant and uplifting short story with a powerful punch. Anna’s anxious when she’s picked to befriend the new girl in her class. For a start, Ellie is ill and can’t come to school herself. So Anna has to communicate with her through a new kind of robot. But Anna is also worried that her life’s too small and boring to be of interest to her new friend. Compared to the other girls, she doesn’t have anything exciting to talk about and so when Ellie asks her a question, a little white lie pops out. Then another and another. When Ellie finds out the truth, can their friendship survive?

If you loved The Small Things, try TrooFriend by Kirsty Applebaum. Imagine having the perfect friend, one who never steals, lies or bullies. Now you can, with the TrooFriend 560, the latest in artificial intelligence! What can go wrong with a robot buddy? Especially one that’s developing human characteristics and feelings, and who has just run away with her human? Intelligent and insightful, TrooFriend is an enthralling tale of family, friendship and what it means to be human, with a sinister undercurrent that sweeps you along.  In a world where humanity is dependent on technology, to the extent of providing a safe replacement to human friends for children, we see the desperate need for human connection, be it from family or friends. With themes of friendship, loneliness, morality, ethics around A.I., and what it means to be human, there are so many different discussions and debates that can arise.

Make sure you keep voting here to keep your favourite in!

Money in maths

As an end to our maths topic on money, Year 3 have become shopkeepers and customers this morning! This was a great, fun way to revisit what we have learnt about money and giving change earlier this week. Children have all had a fantastic lesson!

Year 5: Lights, iPads, action!

In computing this half term, Year 5 have been film makers. Having produced their storyboards, they spent this morning using different filming techniques to shoot their video, from close ups to long shots, zooming in and filming from different heights. We are really looking forwards to seeing the finished results once their film clips have been edited together.

Coventry Inspiration Book Awards: The First Evictions

It’s time to say goodbye to the first books in this year’s competition. Make sure you keep voting so that your favourite book doesn’t get voted out!

What’s The Story? said goodbye to I Don’t Like Books. Never Ever. The End by Emma Perry and Sharon Davey. Mabel hates books. She gets given loads of them but has no interest in reading them whatsoever. Instead of reading them, she uses them for all sorts of things, from juggling to sledging, but she never looks at the stories inside. One night, the books have had enough and piled up in her bedroom they come alive. The stories jump out of their covers and off the pages so that they can show Mabel their story worlds. She is intrigued by a detective adventure, excited by the chance to board a spaceship and take a trip to the moon, delighted by the thought of accompanying a knight on his quest to seek castles and to duel with dragons. However, there is no way she can find out what happens next in these stories unless she begins to read the books!

If you enjoyed Mabel’s story, try You Choose: Fairy Tales by Pippa Goodhart, illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Make up your very own fairy tale adventure where YOU CHOOSE what happens next!
Which fairy tale hero would you like to be today? Where will you go on your fairy tale quest? And what fairy tale baddy would you least like to meet? The possibilities are infinite in this captivating creative toolkit which will inspire children from three up to make their own stories again and again.

Telling Tales lose Sohal Finds A Friend by Jion Sheibani. Sohal worries about a lot of things: the dark, mutant sheep, being alone – you name it, he worries about it! So one night he tries drawing his worries to make himself feel better – and somehow they look a lot less worrying once they’re scribbled down. But then imagine Sohal’s surprise when he wakes up the next morning to find a set of funny, furry friends at the end of his bed! His worries have come to life, and it’s not long before Hurt, Fail, Anger, Big and Alone have turned his world upside down. Now it’s up to Sohal to work out how to keep his worries under control – and have some serious fun while he’s at it!

If you enjoyed Sohal Finda A Friend, try Sam Wu Is Not Afraid Of Ghosts by Katie and Kevin Tsang. The first in a brilliantly funny series about the bravest scaredy-cat in the world. Sam Wu is NOT a scaredy-cat (except he is). When a trip to the Space Museum goes terrifyingly wrong, Sam begins a mission to prove to the school bully, and all of his friends, that he is a fearless space adventurer. A truly laugh-out-loud, voice-led and madcap story of ghost hunting, snakes and mischievous pet cats called Butterbutt

The first book out of Hooked On Books is The Last Gate Of The Emperor by Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel Makonnen. Often in trouble for his thrill-seeking antics and smart mouth, those same qualities make Yared a star player of the underground augmented reality game, The Hunt for Kaleb’s Obelisk. But when a change in the game rules prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. In the chaos, Uncle Moti disappears. Suddenly, all the stories Yared’s uncle told him as a young boy are coming to life, of kingdoms in the sky and city-razing monsters. And somehow Yared is at the centre of them. Together with Besa and the Ibis – a game rival turned reluctant ally – Yared must search for his uncle… and answers to his place in a forgotten, galaxy-spanning war.

If you enjoyed The Last Gate Of The Emperor, try Skywake: Invasion by Jamie Russell, an exciting and original debut sci-fi adventure trilogy for the gaming generation, from a screenwriter, film critic and gamer. Fifteen-year-old girl gamer Casey Henderson is obsessed with smash-hit game SkyWake – and she’s good at it, too. Little does she realize it’s actually an alien training tool created by an evil extra-terrestrial race. When the aliens swoop down on a national gaming tournament, Casey and her teammates discover they’re abducting the best gamers to fight in a distant alien war across the galaxy. And they’ve got her brother. Casey’s gaming skills are her best hope of stopping the aliens – but first she and her online teammates must learn to work together in real life…

If you don’t want your favourite book to be evicted next week, make sure you keep voting here!

Art Week!

Year 4 had a great time investigating different printing methods in art. We used polystyrene tiles and plastic acetate to print onto paper. Later this week we will be creating our own greetings cards.

Girls On Track

  • Author By Mr Young
  • Publication date February 6, 2022

Last week, Cannon Park were fortunate enough to be able to invite ten girls to participate in an engineering day at the Coventry Transport Museum. The event was hosted by Motorsports UK and featured many exciting engineering tasks encluding Lego Programming, Pit Stop challenges and the introduction of the F1 in schools programme. It was a fun and informative day which helped teach the children about diversity in motorsports.

Dol-y-Moch

The children are on their way back from Dol-y-Moch now after a lovely two days.