Newminster B from left to right: Charlie Halliford Y7, Jake Hewitt Y7, Megan MacInnes Y6, Bronwen Rees Y6

On Tuesday, two teams from Newminster travelled to Gosforth to compete against nineteen other schools from around the North East in our regional heat of the Kids’ Lit Quiz.

This is a national competition with similar regional heats taking place in Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England throughout autumn. The UK final – which decides the British team that competes in the World Final in Auckland – will be held in December.

For more on the event click ‘continue reading’.

Our Quiz lasted for three brain pummelling hours and comprised one hundred questions split into ten themed rounds. As usual, the topics were as diverse as they were intriguing (Accidents, Symbols, Vegetables, Occupations….) and called for a wide knowledge of children’s literature. This year’s quiz was especially challenging because it demanded more than usual in-depth knowledge of plots and some lateral thinking.

Nevertheless, we adults continue to be astounded at the confidence and extraordinary knowledge of the participating students who were able to identify a book from the first line on the first page and answer questions taken from past World Finals more quickly, apparently, than they were answered at the original competitions!

First- timers St Joseph’s took a very well-deserved first place, having achieved consistently high scores in all rounds.

Our Newminster teams held their own, however, and Newminster A won a round and a book for each team member. Well done to them and to both teams, for surviving a gruelling competition and emerging with smiles on their faces!

Newminster A from left to right: Milly James Y8, Eve Haines Y7, Danny O’Shea Y6 and Andrew Laidlaw Y6

They’d do it all again tomorrow but they’ll have to wait for next year!