Co-curricular activities welcome likeminded students and staff to nurture passions and indulge interests, forging friendships which span across classes and year groups. Our current provision is extensive, numbering at over one hundred and fifty options, with more growing each year. Each week, we seek to celebrate one of the many clubs and societies that form part of the rich fabric of Merchant Taylors’.
This week we look at Carnegie Club a space for collaboration, imagination and fun.
Since March, pupils all over the country have been shadowing the Carnegie Medal for Writing 2025 by reading, reviewing and discussing the eight titles shortlisted for this prestigious award of best book of the year for children and young adults.
Our Carnegie Club came to end on Monday afternoon when members attended an event at St Helen’s School alongside their own shadowing group and that of Harrow High School. Zach G. (U3rds) and Shaurjesh B. (4ths) joined forces with a pupil from St Helen’s to give an inciteful and confident presentation about their favourite book on the shortlist, Play by Luke Palmer. This story covers dilemmas that many young men face today, exploring the dynamics of friendship and consequences of decisions made, leaving the reader with much to consider and perhaps learn from. The attendees overall voted as their favourite book the near-future dystopian novel The things we leave behind by Clare Furniss. We look forward to seeing whether this matches the Shadowers’ vote nationwide and the actual Carnegie Medal winner, to be announced on June 19th.
Copies of all the shortlisted books are available to borrow or reserve in the school library.
Shaurjesh B. (4ths) writes:
The Carnegie event was a really great and fun experience! It was a super chance to work with students from other schools, where we could all openly talk about our ideas on different books. The best part was definitely when we collaborated to make interesting presentations, sharing what we thought and learned with lots of other people. This working together and sharing thoughts made for an amazing day.
