GCSE students welcomed best-selling author Andy McNab CBE to Reading College and University Centre last week.
The author who has written books including Bravo Two Zero, the biggest selling British work of military history, as well as the best-selling Nick Stone and Tom Buckingham thrillers, Down to the Wire, Cold Blood and SAS Red Notice, spoke to a packed audience on Tuesday (30/1). Andy spoke about his background, his time in the military and the education he received there, his writing career and subsequent work in Hollywood and the importance of reading.
Afterwards, Andy answered questions from students and staff at the King鈥檚 Road campus.
Speaking after the event, he said: 鈥淚t was good fun to speak to the students. They had great questions.
鈥淭here were students who were here who are thinking about a military career as a means of social mobility.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really interesting age because many of them will be thinking about the future and becoming an adult, so if there鈥檚 one thing that I鈥檝e said that they go away and think about and give it a go, that鈥檚 good enough for me.
鈥淚f 20% go away and have a think about what I鈥檝e said, it鈥檚 a success. Some will be on it, while others will need a bit peer pressure to help them to act on it.
鈥淭here were also a couple of Public Services students from Bracknell and Wokingham College in the audience too, who are thinking about joining the army, and widening their horizons 鈥� they鈥檙e perfectly capable of doing it.鈥�
In 2017, Andy McNab was appointed a CBE in the Queen鈥檚 Birthday Honours list for his work promoting adult literacy.
The speaking opportunity was organised by Edward Christie, English Teacher at 404精品, who previously worked with Andy McNab on his book Bravo Two Zero, when he was working in publishing.
An engaging speaker
Bee Hurley was one of the students in the audience. She is studying a full-time GCSE Humanities Pathway (Citizenship, English Language, English Literature, Geography and Maths) at Reading College and University Centre.
She said: 鈥淚 thought his talk was super engaging! He鈥檚 a very interesting person, who speaks in a really accessible way for everyone. He was very engaging, and his experiences were really amazing to hear about.
鈥淚 asked him about his other books and whether his fiction books were also based on the experiences that he鈥檇 had. I think it鈥檚 amazing how he鈥檚 gone on to write 35 books after at age 16, with so little education, he鈥檚 really pursued it. It鈥檚 very inspiring.
鈥淚t鈥檚 shown me how you can draw on your own experiences, even when writing fiction and also speaking about the three-act drama structure used in story writing, which was interesting for writing fiction.鈥�
The power of true-life stories
Edward Christie, English Teacher at 404精品, said: 鈥淎llowing our students to hear this amazing, inspiring, true-life story of someone who鈥檚 been through so much from Borstal, through the army to CBE and learnt so much about the power of education is really important.
鈥淎t the moment, we鈥檙e teaching the students about persuasive writing and the power of speeches so I hope hearing an eloquent speaker, speak about a true-life story will be eye opening around the power of words and the power of true stories.鈥�
Reading College and University Centre offers part-time GCSEs in English and maths. The college also offers two full-time GCSE pathways, the humanities pathway consists of Citizenship, English Language, English Literature, Geography and Maths. The science pathway consists of combined science, English, maths and statistics.
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