Part two: our first win

Actually, it wasn't our first win: that was in November 2009 when we won the NE England heat and went to the UK final in Oxford later the same month. This time (November 2010) we went to Bolton University where the NW England heat was being held.

Having two team members who had been before (Alistair and Sol) was helpful to the other two and they appeared confident from the start. The teams had first to choose the section to play their joker, which would double their points in that section, so strategic discussions took place before the quiz even started. Then Wayne presented his usual challenging sweep of children's and teen literature with 100 questions in themed sections of 10 (does the man ever do anything but read?). After each section the answers were marked and scores announced. We won the team prize for the highest score in the first section (a selection of books) and carried on scoring well in most sections.

(L-R) Daniel, Alistair, Wayne with our mascot, Imogen and Sol)

As a member of the audience it was nerve-wracking to watch them conferring, often very confident of their answers but sometimes discussing their options. As each section was marked the scores were announced and we seemed to be doing quite well but I wasn't keeping a tally. It wasn't until the visiting authors, who had been marking the answers, were adding up the final scores that I began to get really nervous on the team's behalf!

Wayne built up the tension whilst scores were checked, telling the teams of the prize which awaited the winning UK team: an invitation to visit New Zealand to compete against similarly book-mad teams from around the world; a visit to Rotorua's geysers and traditional Maori village; taking a boat into the underground caves at Waitomo where the ceilings are lit by glow worms - in other words, the trip of a lifetime.

Finally he announced the winners in reverse order: Lancaster Grammar were 3rd, Withington Girls' were 2nd - and Cockermouth School were first!

Our trusty mascot, just the right size to fit in the cup

As winners our invitation to the UK Final in Oxford meant we would have to organise a horribly early start and put in some serious reading time to hold our own against the best teams from each area... and all that with only a couple of weeks to prepare... but the challenge was on!

How we got to go to New Zealand and what we did when we got there!

Part One: the beginning

We wouldn't be going if it weren't for the Kids' Lit Quiz!

The Kids' Lit Quiz is an international quiz for students aged between 10 - 13 and was the brainchild of Wayne Mills, a lecturer in Education at Auckland University, who decided to set up a competition to encourage kids who like to read. He noticed that at his children's school prize days there were plenty of awards for sporting achievements but nothing for those who love books. Thus the Kids' Lit Quiz was born and it proved very popular; over the years it has spread throughout New Zealand and to South Africa, China, the UK, Canada and, this year, to the USA.

It has been equated to 'a pub quiz without the beer' and this describes it perfectly. The competitive atmosphere generated between teams of 4 pupils (maximum of 2 teams per school) who work in conjunction with each other, pooling their knowledge and drawing on each others' strengths, can be cut with a knife as the quiz progresses and tension builds. Prizes are generous and plentiful, ranging from books, cash and Book Tokens to meetings with well-known authors and invitations to visit other countries to compete against the best teams from around the world. Consequently, as students return from the heats full of enthusiasm and news spreads to other schools, more and more teams are taking part.

Cockermouth School has been competing since 2006; in 2009 we won our area heat and competed in the UK final. To find out what happened in 2010, read on...

To find out more about the quiz, go to the website http://www.kidslitquiz.com/

To my disappointment when I held the heats in school to find our new team for the 2010/11 Quiz there weren't many takers from Y8 - and even fewer from Y7 - but little did I know that it was a case of 'quality not quantity'! After thinking up as many awkward questions as I could, I put them to the pupils who wanted to try for the team. Although there were some horrifying gaps in some people's knowledge the results of four pupils stood out and made them the obvious choice for our 2010/11 team; they were Imogen (Y7), Daniel, Solomon and Alistair (Y8).

We had virtually no time to practice before the heat but two of the four had been in the previous year's team so we were able to share experiences and tips with the two newbies who were up to speed pretty quickly. All too soon it was time for their first test: the NW England heat at Bolton University!