Schools top of the class for reading and writing
Schools having a special effect on pupils’ reading and writing skills have been honoured at the Kent Literacy Awards.
Claremont Primary School, Tunbridge Wells was awarded top prize in the county for Best Use of Technology to Improve Literacy.
The scheme sets groups of pupils to create movie masterpieces using iPads and then write about their work.
Representatives from the school collected prizes which included a trophy, framed certificate, and two Amazon Fire tablets donated by KM Facilities Management.
The Kent award for Best Scheme to Excite Reluctant Readers went to Ulcombe CEP School, Maidstone for its Reading Trees initiative.
Pupils who read at home or to an adult at the school are rewarded with a leaf on a class tree presented in a celebration assembly.
The school was awarded an additional prize of a special storytime session featuring Golding Homes’ mascot Gerald the Giraffe.
District winners included Kings Hill Primary School which took the area award for Best School Library; and South Borough Primary School, Maidstone which had the Best Home Reading Initiative in the district.
The schools joined literacy champions from across the county at an awards presentation staged by the KM Charity Team at Hempstead House Hotel, Sittingbourne.
Now in its third year, the awards event was hosted by Simon Dolby, chief executive of the KM Charity Team, Nicola Everett, news editor for kmfm, and featured special guest Phil Gallagher, of CBeebies’ Mister Maker fame.
Mr Dolby said: “We are passionate about pupil literacy so we are currently offering schools a free trial of Buster’s Book Club.
The home reading scheme will be available for one class per school free of charge because we are so sure that pupils will absolutely love it.”
The Kent Literacy Awards were supported by Kent County Council, Three R’s Teacher Recruitment, Golding Vision (part of Golding Homes), Specsavers, Beanstalk, and Kent Libraries.
The 18 categories included Best use of IT or Drama to Enhance Reading; Most Engaging Writing Topic; and Most Engaging Book Week Theme.
A best practice booklet outlining all the successful schemes has been shared with all schools in Kent and Medway.
To download a copy, visit kentliteracyawards.co.uk
To request a free one-class trial of Buster’s Book Club contact Charli Elvy at celvy@ thekmgroup.co.uk or call 0844 264 0291.