On Friday 20th January, we were delighted to welcome Lily Bailey to Cheney. Lily is the author of When I See Blue, a book about Benny, a year 7 student with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) navigating school, friendships and family trauma as well as discovering more about himself. She is also a mental health activist and is diagnosed with OCD herself.
Lily took part in a question and answer session with the whole of year 8 and she then signed books in the library during lunchtime.
In the run up to the session, students took part in some pre-work in their English lessons, in which they learned about OCD and heard a reading from the book. They also worked on a class question for Lily and nominated a student per class to ask a question during the plenary Q&A session.
On the day, Lily was very open about her experiences with mental health issues as well as life as an author and answered the students’ questions openly and honestly. The whole year group were fully engaged with what Lily had to share and in the end I think everyone went away having learnt something about empathising with the people around them.
When I See Blue is Lily’s first book for young people, although she writes and blogs regularly for adults. I read a lot of books and each year two or three really stand out as being relevant to and relatable for Cheney students; When I See Blue is one such book and I encourage everyone to read it, adult or student.
A massive well done to those students who were brave enough to use the microphone to ask questions. Thank you to year 8 for being so respectful of our visitor and thank you to my Cheney colleagues whose support was invaluable in arranging the event.
Mrs Fenton
Cheney School Librarian