Going for gold after Lybster school gains silver reading award
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Lybster Primary has become the first accredited Reading School in Caithness, and the first in the Highland region to achieve Silver status.
Pupils and staff at the school have been celebrating this week after it was announced that they had received a Silver Reading Schools Accreditation from the Scottish Book Trust.
The Reading Schools scheme is an accreditation programme for schools that are committed to building a culture of reading for their learners and communities.
For a year, pupils and staff have engaged in a range of activities promoting reading for pleasure, meaning that everyone gets access to books they can select themselves and which they know they are going to enjoy.
This school-wide effort was led by the Reading Leadership Group, a group consisting of eight pupils, two parents and one teacher. The group was responsible for deciding which aspects of reading would be promoted, and also decided to repurpose the outdoor classroom as a reading area.
Some pupils across the school made recommendations of books they love, and others wore “Ask Me What I’m Reading” badges.
On Monday morning, the school hosted a special assembly and prizegiving, where Highland Council leader and local councillor Raymond Bremner and Anson Macauslan from the Lord-Lieutenant’s office came to celebrate with the pupils.
The guests gave a short talk about the importance of reading, before handing out certificates and presents to the Reading Leadership Group. Raymond and Anson then did a reading of Dr Seuss’s book, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut, which the children really enjoyed listening to. After that, the Reading Leadership Group took the visitors to look at the reading display which had been created to celebrate reading across the school.
Silver level accreditation is a step up from Core level, and focuses on creating links across the school, as well as with families and parents. The next step is Gold, which requires the school to work with the wider community, bringing reading for pleasure into the local area as well as promoting the accreditation programme to other schools.
Lybster is already working towards its Gold level accreditation.
Head teacher Denise Walsh said: “I am immensely proud of the school's achievement of receiving the Silver award. It was a positive experience for our school community to receive the award from Raymond Bremner and Anson MacAuslan from the Lord-Lieutenant’s office.
“It is really encouraging to see how the children, staff and parents have become so actively involved in the Reading School Award. I am delighted to see and hear so many children talking about the different books they are reading and enjoying.
“Thank you to Miss Crow for taking the lead on this award. We are now aiming for the Gold award.”
Judith Crow, who was the lead for the Reading Schools Accreditation, said: “I am so excited that we achieved our Reading Schools Silver Accreditation award. It has been a really positive year for reading across our school – not only for the pupils but also the staff. There are people who don’t really like reading for pleasure who have been inspired by the programme to give it a go.
“It was a pleasure to welcome Raymond Bremner and Anson Macauslan to our school for the assembly. They were both really impressed by the work the children and staff have been doing, and they were really good sports reading the Dr Seuss book, which was a highlight for everyone!
“I am also very proud of – and grateful to – the Reading Leadership Group. Our meetings were lots of fun and a chance to share ideas for going forward to promote reading at our school.”
