Campaign to inspire a happier ending for children
27 SCHOOLS IN REGION PICKED TO RECEIVE 500 FREE BOOKS
A NATIONAL campaign to inspire more youngsters to read for pleasure has been launched, targeting 27 primary schools in the North East.
They are among 50 schools catering for 13,000 pupils across the country chosen by the organisers – publishers Puffin and the National Literacy Trust – for the pilot programme.
Called ‘Puffin World of Stories,’ it will equip each with 500 free books as well as providing materials, training and resources to reinvigorate their libraries or reading spaces to become vibrant hubs for creativity for pupils.
Each participating school has a high percentage of pupils receiving free school meals – an indicator of disadvantage – and are based in three areas.
They include 10 in South Shields, Jarrow and Hebburn and 17 in and around Middlesbrough including Ormesby, Easterside, Thornabyon-Tees, Redcar and Saltburn-bythe-Sea from the North East. The other two areas are Tendring in Essex and South London.
The free books from Puffin, part of Penguin Random House UK publishers, will include kids’ favourites Jacqueline Wilson and Roald Dahl together with new voices including Robin Stevens, Nadia Shireen and Nick Mohammed.
Ms Wilson, author of the Tracy Beaker series, is an ambassador for the scheme.
She said: “Reading for pleasure is the most important gift you can give children. In our schools we teach children to read, but we also need to bring to life the joy of books.
“Books are not just for learning grammar or comprehension, they are stories to delight and engage.” Research by the National Literacy Trust shows that 10-year-olds who enjoy reading have a reading age 1.3 years higher than their peers who do not enjoy reading and, by the age of 14, this gap increases to 3.3 years.
School libraries and reading spaces play a vital role in helping pupils develop an enjoyment of reading but a recent survey found that 53% of teachers say they don’t have a library in their school.
Over the academic year, Puffin and the National Literacy Trust will work with schools to measure the impact of the pilot in order to better understand and adapt to the challenges schools and children face, with a view to rolling out the programme more widely in the future.
Kaye Seebacher, federation literacy lead of one of the North East schools involved – Valley View Primary School in Jarrow – said: “Our children will have a vast selection of new books and their library space will be a great place to visit.
“Having the expertise to utilise the space effectively will be invaluable to us as a school.”
Organisers have said they are not releasing the names of the other schools chosen.
Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Random House Children’s, said: “At a time when so many schools are struggling to find the money and the time to invest in reading for pleasure and their school libraries, we hope Puffin World of Stories can play its part in making a difference.”