Most Popular Authors

Thought I'd tell you all what our most popular authors were last year.

1. Jacqueline Wilson
2. Darren Shan
3. Stephenie Meyer
4. Roald Dahl
5. Meg Cabot

This is Stephenie Meyer's first appearance in our top five, and it's interesting in the fact that it has pushed JK Rowling out. Is Harry out of vogue? Are vampires the 'in' thing? It would certainly seem so at the moment.

Personally, I am a huge HP fan and late last year I also became a huge Twilight fan. I become so engrossed in both series of books that it's difficult for me to say which I prefered. Having said that though, I do agree with Stephen King when he said he felt Rowling had the edge over Meyer in terms of writing technique.

Good to see Darren Shan in the top five again, despite the recent film release being panned. I enjoy his books and would hate to see him slip down.

October half term

Before I worked in education I used to think school staff didn’t live in the real world; having a week off work every two months meant they were detached from reality. Oh, how different I feel now I’m one of those staff! After four years in a school I have deduced that the real reason behind the frequent holidays is the preservation of staff sanity. Being with teenagers for 37 hours a week can be tiring work – draining, stressful and loud. Every once in a while the equilibrium needs to be re-addressed and the balance re-issued; the slate has to be wiped clean so staff and pupils alike can tackle the days ahead refreshed and with enthusiasm, otherwise nothing of any benefit would ever be achieved.

We are just starting our October half term holiday and I am very glad of it. Last week was one of the more unpleasant weeks in a school with several ‘incidences’ to write up and report, merge squabbles appearing, performance management observations, and not to mention the whole Single Status argument coming to the fore (don’t get me started on that!). Amongst all this, two nice things happened…