Lybster pupils open a new chapter with Gold reading award
Lybster Primary School celebrated becoming the first gold-level accredited reading school in Caithness with an assembly attended by special guests.
The Gold Reading School award was presented to the pupils by Viscount John Thurso, who was joined by far north MP Jamie Stone, MSP Maree Todd and Wick and East Caithness councillor Raymond Bremner for the occasion.
Lybster had become the first to achieve the silver award last year, with the scheme being led by Judith Crow who has since moved on from that role.
Head teacher Denise Walsh said she was proud of the whole school, which had been celebrating Scottish Book Week in the run-up to the celebratory gold event on Friday.
Pupils have been carrying out different reading-related activities across the school, such as the P1-3 children receiving their Scottish Book Trust book bags, paired reading, dressing in blue for World Children’s Day, parents being invited in and the children and staff dressed up as a favourite character from a book of their choice.
The Reading Schools scheme is an accreditation programme for schools that are committed to building a culture of reading for their learners and communities.
Over the last couple of years, pupils and staff had 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 has been led by the Reading Leadership Group, a group consisting of 10 pupils, two parents and one teacher. The group were responsible for deciding which aspects of reading would be promoted, and what resources were required to do this.
Some pupils made recommendations of books they love, and others wore “Ask Me What I’m Reading” badges. The Reading Leadership Group organised the activities for Scottish Book Week and also led parts of the celebration assembly.
Some read their favourite stories, and others asked the visitors questions about their favourite book, author or what different types of books they liked reading.
Denise Walsh said: “I am extremely proud of the school’s achievement of receiving the Gold Award. It was such a lovely experience for our school community to receive the award from Rt Honourable, the Viscount John Thurso alongside our other guests.
“Some of our children shared their favourite books and others asked and answered questions about their favourite books and authors.
“I have a genuine love for reading for pleasure and what is encouraging for me to see, is that our children have a love for reading too.
“It is really encouraging to see how the children, staff and parents have been so actively involved in the Reading School Award. It is an absolute delight when I go around school and hear so many children talking about the different books they are reading and enjoying.
“Most weeks in our whole-school assemblies, children will read independently to the whole school with confidence and clarity and for pleasure.
“Although Miss Crow has recently moved onto another position, I wish to thank her for taking the lead on this award. Our aim now is to maintain this award and to further encourage reading in our wider community.”
