Midlothian school recieves free author residency

Writer Ruth Thomas will work with Newbattle pupils.

Jim Fair, depute headteacher at Newbattle High School, said: “We are very excited about working with Ruth Thomas as our Writer in Residence.

"We hope that our young people will gain a fresh insight and understanding of themselves and their own experiences. By exploring and expressing their thoughts and feelings they will more fully appreciate their own relevance and worth.”

Ruth Thomas said: “Words are fabulous! There are so many ways you can put them together to tell stories and make connections.

"I can’t wait to start working with Newbattle High School pupils this autumn, when we’ll look at how and why words can be so powerful, and working on our own writing projects.”

The residencies will run across the 2021-22 school year and finish by May 2022. The Walter Scott Giving Group has funded the Live Literature School Residencies Programme for six years, and the Mohn Westlake Foundation has funded the ASN School Residencies Programme for three years. As well as an author residency, schools will receive a resources grant of £500.

Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “The Live Literature School Residencies Programme is incredibly important, as it allows authors to build relationships with a school over time, working together with pupils on a dedicated project.

"Many of these projects will work with the local community and will also build on the school’s Covid recovery plan, addressing issues such as pupil wellbeing; rebuilding reading and writing cultures and also lost transition time for P7/S1.

"We are grateful to our funders the Walter Scott Giving Group and the Mohn Westlake Foundation for making this programme available to all schools including ASN settings.”Each school’s project will be showcased on Scottish Book Trust’s website, alongside suggested learning resources and helpful tips to make the most of the residency sessions.

Schools across the country were invited to apply to the programme which brings professional authors into the classroom to inspire and engage pupils.

Each school taking part in the programme will receive 12 fully-funded residency sessions and ASN schools will receive 15 fully-funded sessions, carried out by an author from Scottish Book Trust’s author directory. It includes over 600 professional writers, poets, playwrights, illustrators, performance poets and storytellers.