On the morning of 5^th December, Year 7 had a visit from Fleur Hitchcock, a well-known author of murder mysteries for older children, as part of their Bookbuzz celebration. Her novel ‘Waiting for Murder’ was the second most popular choice among students from this year’s Bookbuzz shortlist. She talked about her creative inspirations - small details she notices about everyday life and her family relationships, as well as a childhood love of Batman comics. After Fleur’s talk in the hall, students spent the next hour doing creative activities based on their own choices of Bookbuzz titles and in groups of people who all chose the same book, joined by English teachers who had also been reading the shortlist. It was a fun event and inspired many students to do some writing and also to borrow Fleur’s books from the library – there is now a waiting list!

(Photograph courtesy of Lou Abercrombie, photographer.)