Tuesday 27 November 2007

West Scotland 27 Nov

Who was the most delighted to win today? Okay rhetorical question but it was the authors' team of Cathy Cassidy, Alex Nye, Keith Charters and Kathie Grant. They had had a tough fight on their hands all afternoon but just managed to beat Bannerman High School from Glasgow. It was a privilege to have two of the winning authors from last week's Scottish Books Awards (Cathy and Alex)in the authors' team.
Once again all the scores were really close showing just how well the teams are doing.
Well that's the end of the UK heats. I wonder who will win the UK final on Dec 3?
Cheers everyone, thanks for following my blogs.
Wayne

Monday 26 November 2007

North East England 26 Nov

This was the tighest heat so far (there's only one heat left now before the final) the top three teams were separated by only two points and if the second team had not changed an answer, the result well who knows... Instead well done Central Newcastle High who were first. The venue at Park View School allowed all the spectators from two sides to view the participants as they were down two levels on the hall floor. It was a cracker night and enjoyed by all and several of the adult prizes were won by kids.
Wayne
Quizmaster

Saturday 24 November 2007

East Scotland 23 Nov

A piper welcomed everyone one as they entered into the brand new Performing Arts Centre at Stewarts Melville School for the first Kids Lit Quiz heat in Scotland this year. The excitment must have got to two kids though as they both had nose bleeds. But the atmosphere was exciting and the heat was won again for the third year by George Heriots School and the authors' team (consisting of Debi Gliori, Keith Gray, Gill Arbuthnot and Mike Nicholson) was just behind in second place

Friday 23 November 2007

Northern Ireland 21 Nov

Great festive night-crackers on the tables and back in the land of the Kids' Lit Quiz World Champions. This year every county in Northern Ireland turned out for the event as well as one hundred spectators. Many teams had travelled quite a distance to participate. Welcome and thank you to you all. Wellington College the defending World Champions couldn't quite hold off new winners Sullivan Upper. But even Sullivan Upper couldn't quite pip the authors' team consisting of Eleanor Updale and Sarah Wray and several librarians. It was another evening spent celebrating 'the sport of reading'
Wayne
Quizmaster

Tuesday 20 November 2007

North West England Heat 20th Nov

Hi Everybody
What a hot and exciting heat. It was jammed packed as we had 130 in the audience and a capacity number of teams given the size of the venue. Many thanks to all those who came along tonight as supporters. Another world first for the quiz occured tonight as the winning team, Helsby High School, only had three children in their team! Their fourth member withdrew at the last moment. (one wonders what they would have achieved with four members in their team). Guest author Sherry Ashworth handed out the cup and prize vouchers to the winners and she was very impressed with the overall knowledge of all those teams taking part.
Wonderful performances all round
Wayne
Quizmaster

Saturday 17 November 2007

South West England 16 Nov

What an exhuberant heat and so well attended by over 75 parents, grandparents, librarians and teachers. The hall was filled to capacity and was only one team short of the record set by the Yorkshire heat. This was a night to remember for when the results came in from both the manual count and from the electronic scoring Truro School had amassed a record breaking 96 points.Prizes were handed out by local Cornish author Chris Higgins. Such a fantastic result-well done. And a special thanks to the three students who prepared the supper as part of their citizenship award- we were spoilt for choice.
Keep that reading going
Wayne
Quizmaster

Thursday 15 November 2007

South Wales 15 Nov

Shwmai Pawb
Well what a capacity night the hall was filled to the brim. We had the most teams ever and more than I had expected consequently we needed to print extra answer sheets. By the end of the night there was standing room only for the adults. The enthusiasm of all those there was lovely to see. Whitchurch won tonight's event and are keen to attend the final in Newcastle. As this was Mrs Williams' last night (she retires next month) we paid tribute to her organisation and management of the regional Kids' Lit Quiz.
Well done everybody
Wayne
Quizmaster

Wednesday 14 November 2007

South England Heat 14 Nov

Hi Everyone
Today I moved south from Central England into Hampshire for the quiz in Havant. This was the first time the South England heat had been held outside of Portsmouth. Today's winning school though was Portsmouth High who did exceedingly well beating their nearest rival by 12.5. Well done team. The author and librarian team chased Portsmouth High but couldn't quite manage to overhaul their score and so came second. All the other schools were tightly bunched. Many thanks to our authors down here Andrew Norriss and Michael Coleman who regularly support this heat.
Keep reading
Wayne
Quizmaster

Tuesday 13 November 2007

Oxford Heat 13 Nov

Hi Everyone
At today's heat in Oxford we had incredibly quick kids, a great turnout of authors and guests all gathered under one roof. The quiz is sponsored by Serco and we were lucky to have John Essery from Serco Defence, Science and Technology present to award the first place prize to The Cherwell School.Incidentally The Cherwell School were the UK national winners in 2004. The authors' team was too strong especially with the likes of: Dennis Hamley, Mary Hooper, Meg Harper, Rod Hunt, Mark Robson, Mini Gray and Rachael Wing taking part.

Monday 12 November 2007

Central England Heat 12 Nov

Hi Everyone
There was a very sharp audience today with some rapid answers to tough questions. An all-boys team from Aylesbury Grammar won today's heat although the Year 7 team from Winchester House School, Brackley will be one to watch in 2008. A couple of high-powered author teams with the likes of Gillian Cross, Celia Rees, Linda Newbery, Mark Robson and Val Tyler proved to be a bit too powerful for the school teams today. However, lots of schools went away rewarded with books for their literary efforts.
Read widely
Wayne
Quizmaster

Saturday 10 November 2007

Yorkshire Heat 9 Nov

Gee whizz this heat started with drums, harps and an orchestra to warm up the audience. And with a massive turnout of 36 teams it didn't take much to make this an wonderful afternoon at the North Light Gallery and to celebrate a huge Kids' Lit Quiz yummy chocolate cake was cut by Penny Dolan (the visiting author) and shared around all the teams and even after all the distributing there was cake left over!. Beckfoot School were the new winners and will now go forward to the national final on 3 Dec.
Hope to see you at a heat
Wayne
Quizmaster

Midlands Heat 8 Nov

Hi Folks
Huge night at the Ricoh Centre as we had the largest turnout of supporters - 166 spectators came to show their support for the 'sport of reading'. many parents were impressed at the kids knowledge and were delighted to be able to see just what their kids had been looking forward to for weeks. Gillian Cross and Mark Robson donated spot prizes which all added to the excitement of the. evening. Blue Coat School were the winners in a closely contested heat. Great scores all round
Well done everybody.
Wayne
Quizmaster

Thursday 8 November 2007

East England Heat 7 Nov

Well another great night with twice as many teams as last year-it's a real pleasure to see so many new schools taking part. In fact the winning school at today's heat,Swavesey Village College, was a first time school at the Kids' Lit Quiz and gee they did well winning by a comfortable margin.
Thanks to all the parents who came up to me and made favourable comments about how their child and they had enjoyed the afternoon.
Keep reading-build on the titles suggested today.
Wayne

Tuesday 6 November 2007

Essex Heat 6 Nov

Hi
We had a wonderful response to the quiz in Essex this year with more schools than ever before taking part.
This heat was the noisiest in the 16 year history of the quiz as the organisers had provided every participant with a hand-held clacker. So when it came to clapping the noise was deafening but it was all great fun.
Bancroft's School team one and two tied for first place so a sudden death question was asked which was won by their number one team.
The venue was held in the Culver Centre for the first time and proved to be a popular spot-with helpful and well organised staff there for our assistance.
Off to another new venue tomorrow
Happy reading
Wayne
Quizmaster

London Heat 5 Nov

Hi Everyone
The London heat got off to a flying start on November 5th. We had eight authors present who marked and scored for the KLQ. A local bookshop did a roaring trade selling their books.
Arnold House, an all-boys team, won the heat followed by a team of libarians and teachers that went head-to-head with them. In fact there were more boys participating at this heat than girls. Quite remarkable!
A fabulous start. Special thanks to the authors: Jean Ure, Sam Enthoven, Pauline Francis, Echo Freer, Graham Marks, Paul Shipton, Mark Robson and Lee Weatherly
Wayne
Quizmaster