The Gift of Reading, with Give a Book
The Marks Family Charitable Trust are partnering with Give a Book, to support their work in schools, to champion reading and promote literacy. In 2019 they identified an expanding London school, with no library space and a very small provision of books. In 2020 a beautiful new library space has been successfully completed, with supporting reading clubs; it is now a space for pupils to enjoy and use.
About Give a Book
Working with schools, who are proactive and keen on promoting reading in the school, Give a Book is focused on areas where reading may not be as high a priority at home. Every year, they seek a school, to support a whole reading project across the school.
Our Project
In 2019, in conjunction with the Marks Family Charitable Trust, Give A Book have been able to support a school based in North London. It was identified that children starting this school, were struggling at a much lower reading level, compared to national data. Furthermore 60%+ of the children attending are receiving a pupil premium grant (they are entitled to free school meals based on their family income); this is more than double the national average. The children often have little to no access to books at home, the local library closed, and the nearest bookshop is some distance away.
Having recently expanded the school, there was no facility for a dedicated library, the need for an improved space for children to access books was critical. After visiting the school earlier in the year, Give a Book found no library space and a small selection of books, available on two trolleys for pupils. The school hoped to improve the situation as they strive to create an inclusive and aspirational curriculum to improve the life chances for all pupils.
A New Library
The aim of this project was to help create a calm, relaxing, imaginative library space for reading, with more books accessible for pupils. With a longer term goal to change the reading culture at the school and improve literacy. Together Give a Book and The Marks Family Charitable Trust have built a bright new library space, with books starting to fill the shelves. There is also a regular breakfast book club, lunchtime reading clubs, a Year group reading club and author visits; to encourage and support the use of this new facility for the school and the pupils.
Becoming a Reading School
The reading lead at the school said
“The former classroom is now unrecognisable. It is filled with hundreds of books for the children to choose from, as well as comfy spaces for them to sit and read. There is also a whiteboard for the children to leave feedback on the new space. Comments (fed back) include: it’s aspirational, I feel really optimistic and it makes me calm...
Children, parents and staff have all been really excited to come and see the new reading space and the fantastic range of books. We are absolutely delighted with our new library and incredibly grateful to Give a Book for making it happen.”
For the Future and why Reading Matters
Numerous studies show that poor reading skills are inextricably linked to economic disadvantage and reduced life possibilities. Give a Book aims to change this by working with others to inspire children to pick up a book and read for pleasure. This can have a hugely positive impact, not only on reading and learning but can also enhance other life skills such as confidence, communication and empathy.
The hope is that this school library project will lead to more reading, both in school, and subsequently in the home environment. Not only does the library serve the current school community of children, staff and parents today, it hopes to be a long-term asset to the school; serving the community for many years to come. Give a Book has also connected the school with an author and poet Neal Zetter, who will be the school’s Patron of Reading. Neal has already attended the school in 2020. They are also advising the school on applications, to support further funding; support is ongoing, to realise a new culture of reading and a new generation of young-readers.
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Headteacher at the school “We are passionate about giving our children a great education and the evidence is clear that reading for pleasure is associated with better outcomes. The children are thrilled with the new library and so are we, and we’re looking forward to enjoying it for many years to come. Previously, our Breakfast Club's books were dated, and children were not enthused to pick up a book to read. Since receiving a fantastic, relevant and up to date list of books from Give a Book, we have noticed that the children enjoy reading a range of titles in the mornings. For us, one of the main school development areas was to raise the profile in reading and providing high quality texts into Breakfast Club has done just that!”
“Thank you for the wonderful books you have provided for our Breakfast Club. The children are always so engaged with them and have even been recommending some of their favourite titles to their friends. As I am the Reading Lead at our school, it is wonderful to see how enthused children have become over the last term.”
“..we really wanted to provide children with an opportunity where they could read in a small group at lunchtimes and experience the real benefits of reading and discussing a book with our peers. The children have absolutely loved reading the titles requested and there is a real buzz to continue reading. It is so lovely seeing children walking around with their books at playtime and even asking when we are going to meet next to continue discussing the story”
“Give a Book has really transformed their reading experiences as a whole. Once again, we would like to thank you for providing our school with this opportunity”
Further links and reading ~
More about this project: http://giveabook.org.uk/project/brimsdown-primary-school/
Visit Give a Book’s website and read more about their work: http://giveabook.org.uk/
All imagery has been supplied by Give a Book