Whitley Bay High School, Tyneside, embraces the use of comics and graphic novels to encourage reading in the library, and boost pupil engagement with English. Visual literacy expert Doctor Mel Gibson visits the school to promote the positive impact of comics as an educational resource, andlibrary manager Gareth Ellis works with Mel to increase the school's stock of comics, and bring less-keen readers into the library.Mel leads a workshop with Year 9 pupils, to increase their awareness of the wide range of comics on offer for boys and girls of all ages. Keen to help the school develop their use of comics and graphic novels in the classroom, she runs a training session with English teachers Lynne Smith and Faye Robinson.We return to the school one month later to assess whether comics have boosted reading in general, and see if they ve proved to have real educational value in the classroom.
