January – June: books are suggested by participating schools to the Reading Committee for consideration for the Longlist. The Reading Committee read them all and meet regularly to discuss the books and welcome feedback from any students/staff who have read the potential candidates for the longlist.
June: The Reading Committee decides on the five books to be short listed.
Late June: The shortlist is announced and sent to all participating schools.
July: The shortlist is set up on Browns Books for students with a discount so schools can order their copies.
September: All participating schools are encouraged to invite students to join the SSBA as a reading group, an individual or as a class activity and to get reading!
September – December: Reading and discussing the short list gets going and students add their reviews to the SSBA Website for publication (after moderation). If a review reveals a plot twist then ‘Spoiler Alert’ is added to the top of the review!
Committee members will endeavour to add teaching resources in the form of power points with issues raised by the themes or storylines of the shortlisted books so that staff and students can use them as a basis for discussions. But please, feel free to run your own group in your school however works best for you.
Promotional materials will be sent out to schools whether they are full participants or virtual; bookmarks, posters and badges will be sent.
Schools will also be invoiced as appropriate.
Participating schools will be sent regular emails with updates on what is happening and reminders if there are any deadlines approaching.
January: We ask that all schools fully participating meet to get their students to vote for their favourite book on the shortlist. Full voting instructions and an online form will be sent out a few weeks beforehand. Usually the deadline for this is 31st January; some years it may be slightly earlier.
Schools are asked to confirm how many students will be attending the Presentation Evening, held at Hurstpierpoint College, enabling the organisers to plan the event. Each school is entitled to 7 Book Tokens for students at the event to spend on books by any of the shortlisted authors (bookshop on the night provided by The Book Nook of Hove), the host (last year’s winner) and Chris Riddell if he is attending. Extra book tokens may be ordered. Depending on numbers it may be possible for a school to bring more than 7 pupils on the night – again further information will be sent out about this – in good time!
