Reading triumph for pupils
Schools are recognised
Children f rom West Lothian have triumphed in the First Minister’s Reading Challenge 2018.
The First Minister’s Reading Challenge was launched in 2016 for Primaries 4 to 7 and following the success of the first year was expanded to include all primary-age pupils.
The Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing, delivered the reading initiative on behalf of the Scottish Government and every school in Scotland was invited to take part.
This year almost 1000 schools registered for the challenge.
Primary 1 pupil Patrycja Zuchowska from Bankton Primary School received the P1 Pupil Reading Journey award and pupils from Knightsridge P rima r y , S impson Primary, Letham Primary, Bankton Primary and St Ninian’s Primary were awarded School Reading Journey – Local Authority category by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the ceremony celebrating the second year of the challenge.
A total of 17 prizes were awarded at the celebration event for the First Minister’s Reading Challenge which took place in Edinburgh on Wednesday, June 20.
The challenge also created an opportunity for every participating child’s personal achievements to be recognised by their teachers and librarians with personal certificates and other resources.
The First Minister’s Reading Challenge encourages children to read for pleasure and develop a life- long love of books. The awards recognise the efforts of schools and pupils to support reading for enjoyment and create a reading culture in their school, home or community.
Patrycja was given the award for her wonderful submission which described her love of reading and how it made her feel calm.
Knightsridge Primary, Simpson Prima r y , Letham Primary, Bankton Primary and St Ninian’s Primary were given the award in recognition of their unified and collaborative approach to the challenge. The schools demonstrated a varied, exciting and creative set of initiatives led by their pupils and showed a real commitment to developing and maintaining a successful reading culture in their schools.
The First Minister said: “I’d like to congratulate all the schools and pupils who have taken part in this year’s challenge. They’ve all worked really hard over the past year and are a credit to their local communities.
“Raising attainment is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s work. That is why I launched the First Minister’s Reading Challenge – to encourage reading for pleasure from an early age which in turn, helps improve children’s literacy.”
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, added: “These awards recognise some amazing work from schools and pupils who have shown a real commitment to building and sustaining a reading culture.”
Commenting on her award Patrycja said: “In school, I really like to go to the library because it is so quiet and peaceful and it is nice to have calm to read.”
Lorna Lloyd, Patrycja’s class teacher added: “From the moment Pat r ycja joined the Bankton family, her enthusiasm for books and reading has shone through. She loves listening to and writing her own stories and enjoys nothing more than pretending to be the teacher and sharing them with her classmates.
“The First Minister’s Reading Challenge has further inspired her love of reading and has taken her on many exciting reading adventures.”
Awards recognise some amazing work