Children’s Laureate delivers Roscoe Lecture
Lauren Child, born and raised in Wiltshire, has achieved success and recognition as a writer and illustrator. Her first two picture books, published in 1999, I Want a Pet! and Clarice Bean, That's Me were an instant hit. Lauren went on to create the characters Charlie and Lola, Clarice Bean, and Ruby Redfort. On the back of this success, the BBC launched a 78 part animated series of Charlie and Lola, which has won four BAFTAs and has aired in 34 countries.
Lauren is a multiple winner of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal, and twice shortlisted as British Children's Book of the Year. In 2010, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), and in June 2018 announced as the current Waterstones Children’s Laureate to celebrate her outstanding achievement.
The Roscoe Lecture, named ‘What do you think about when you think of nothing?’ entails the strange concept that meditating and clearing the mind often throws up a lot of questions- which is exactly what you are not meant to be doing.
Lauren goes on to describe how tiny fragments of life, such as those seen from observing life from a window, can become very powerful if time is taken to notice them. She provides insight to where her ideas come from, emphasising the importance of ‘floating time’ and notes that maybe we do not have enough time to meander and experiment. Lauren highlights the importance of books in providing children with their first insight to the world.
You can listen to her lecture here
Good Citizenship Awards
These Awards recognise the often-overlooked contributions that young people from different cultures and communities make to society today. The evening’s Award was presented to Year 4 St Charles Catholic Primary School pupil Alex Dutton.
Following a school assembly talk ‘Make Our Community Beautiful Initiative’ by two local councillors about the effect that litter has on the environment, Alex with his family, spent a whole weekend with councillors collecting litter in the local area.
