Book of the Month - Alex's Adventures in Numberland

"Maths can be difficult, says Alex Bellos in this wonderful book, but it can also be inspiring, accessible and creative. If approached properly it can be fun, funny and truly fascinating. Those who skip maths miss out on one of the greatest achievements of the human race". 

From the Independent, one of many reviewers to recommend this 5-star book.

Also recommended by Mr Johnson, we now have a copy of this book in the Library, just waiting to be borrowed and read.

To find out just how fascinating the subject can be go to YouTube where there are some great videos such as Zombie Multiplication. 

  

Time Machines - Who reads What?

Many thanks to all the Staff who were cajoled into posing with their Favourite "Time Machines". In the end I managed to catch 53 of them. Following is the list of Staff and the books they chose.

Miss Benson. Homer: The Odyssey


Mr Berger. Brogan: Kennedy

Mr Bishop. Francis: Requiem

Mrs Breen. Austen: Pride and Prejudice

Mrs Broster. McCarthy: The Road

Mrs Brown. Tolstoy: War and Peace

Mr Burcher. Gilmore: Alice in Quantumland.

Mrs Cairns. Meyer: Eclipse

Canteen Staff

    Irresistible chocolate

    Fletcher:Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon.

    Palin: Going Rogue

    Keyes: Anybody Out There?

    Hansel and Gretel

    Ridpath: Free to Trade

    Clancy: Acts of War

    Holy Bible

Mr Carter. Dostoevsky : The Brothers Karamazov

Ms Cleave. Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird

Mr Crook: Vaughan: Calling the Shots

Mr Wilson. Fingleton: Brighly Fades the Don

Mrs Exell. Eco: the Name of the Rose

Mrs Friel. Faulks: Birdsong

Mr Green. Hutchinson: The Hour

Dr Greenwood. McEwen: Atonement

Mr Hall. Gribbin: The Universe

MrHarding The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee

Herr Hierzer Regener: Herr Lehmann

Mr Lecouteur Great Zimbabwe

Mrs Mepham Tom’s Midnight Garden

Mme Midroit Something in Japanese

Ms Moore Joyce: Dubliners

Mr Newman The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Mr Oxford Eddings: Magician’s Gambit

Dr Pearson Conrad: Heart of Darkness

Dr Perrott Mantel: Wolf Hall

Mr Perrotton Obama: Dreams From My Father

Mrs Purkiss Durrell: The Alexandria Quartet

Mr Rackham Byatt: The Children’s Book

Dr Riley Mackay: Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air.

Mrs Rowe Lansing: Endurance: Shackleton’s incredible Voyage

Mr J Russell Sophocles: Antigone

Mme Shearman Roquebert: L’Epopee Cathare

Mr Sherrington McCourt: Angela’s Ashes

Mrs Singh Finley: Economy and Society in Ancient Greece.

Site Team

    Seckel: Incredible visual illusions

    PC PRO

    Ryan: Outbreak

Ms Smith-Lothian Schlink: The Reader

Mrs Spence Mitchell: Cloud Atlas

Mr Thomlinson The Mayor of Casterbridge

Mr Torrie Brecht: Leben des Galilei

Ms Turtle Juster: The Phantom Tolbooth

Mrs Ward Pratchett: Thief of Time

Mrs Weiner Adiche: Half of a Yellow Sun

And prizes for the competition were won by Nile Painter and William Skelton

UNESCO World Book Day Time Machine Treasure Hunt

Around the school over the next week you'll find around 40 pictures of staff reading one of their favourite books.

All you have to do is spot as many of them as possible - you probably won't find them all - and hand in to he library your list of who's reading what by the end of Thursday 6th May. Time Machines are notoriously unreliable and there are extra points if you can add which time or place the book should have taken its reader to - for instance Goodnight Mister Tom would take you to World War 2 in the West Country, or the Voyage of the Beagle to the Galapagos Islands in the Nineteenth Century.

Some of the rarer species whose habitats are difficult to find may be located in the Library, and there will be an expert on hand to help identify them.

And you could add which "time machine" you would like to read and why.

There are, of course, prizes for the person or persons who find the most titles and identify their readers.

Local Studies

I spent part of yesterday's non-pupil day creating a new Local Studies section in the Library; now located at the end of the Reference Library next to the stained-glass window. Up to now books about Essex have been scattered all over the Library, but I have gathered them all together in one place.

Books range from wildlife to windmills, Domesday and earlier to 21st century.


Come and browse and find out more about the County you live in.

Year 8 Geography Passport

Year 8s are taking part in a joint Geography/Library reading project. Their aim is to read at least nine magazine articles and books on the subjects of Geography and Travel and write brief reviews to add to the display in the Library (designed by Kate Knight). At each of three levels of achievement they can earn themselves a certificate confirming their status as Day Trippers, Seasoned Travellers or Intrepid Explorers, and we hope along the way they will also learn what a fascinating and exciting subject it is.

New Books in the Library

These are some of the new titles recently added to the Library stock

"That Honourable and Gentleman and Gentlemanlike House", by Tony Tuckwell

Tony Tuckwell was Headmaster of KEGS from 1984 to 1999. This is the second edition of his history of the school from its foundation in 1551 by King Edward VI to 2008.

Copies of this scholarly and readable book can be bought from Mrs Gray in the Library for £14.95. Cheques should be made to KEGS School Fund.

Contact library@kegs.org.uk for more information.