Pupils from Kincardine-in-Menteith Primary School and Thornhill Primary School in Stirling were given the award for School and Community Partnership Reading Journey - Local Authority category - by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a ceremony in Edinburgh today (Wednesday), celebrating the second year of the challenge.
The 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.
Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing, delivered the exciting reading initiative on behalf of the Scottish Government and every school in Scotland was invited to take part.
This year almost 1000 schools, from 29 local authorities, registered for the challenge, with Kincardine-in-Menteith Primary School and Thornhill Primary School receiving top marks in recognition of the positive results of their collaboration to build a reading culture across their rural locations.
Both schools developed a successful partnership with their local library bus and engaged their local community through intergenerational reading and family events.
Stirling Council’s Chief Education Officer, Kevin Kelman, said: “There is a great sense of pride for everyone at Stirling Council to be recognised in these Awards yet again.
“Last year, Riverside Primary School won the national award for School and Community Partnerships Reading Journey and we were delighted to host the First Minister there in March when she launched the expansion of the project into secondary schools.
“We are committed to encouraging and facilitating reading for our children in and out of school and the work done by both Kincardine-in-Menteith and Thornhill to spread this ethos throughout the entire community is to be commended.”
Reading has the power to transform lives, and developing a love of reading in childhood can have a huge impact on educational attainment and future wellbeing.
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.
A total of 17 prizes were awarded at the celebration event for the First Minister’s Reading Challenge which took place at the Hub in Edinburgh on Wednesday (20 June).
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 said: “I’d like to congratulate all the schools who have taken part in this year’s challenge. They’ve all worked really hard over the past year and demonstrated great enthusiasm for reading.
“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.
“I look forward to the next year of the Challenge which will see even more people able to take part from secondary schools, libraries and community groups.”
Stirling Council’s Children and Young People committee convenor, Councillor Susan McGill, said: “This is a great boost for Stirling’s education service and speaks to the level of work carried out by these schools in their local communities.
“The Reading Challenge is a fantastic initiative that encourages learning through reading. It is such an important tool for the development of our young people and it is great to see our schools and their wider communities embrace this idea.”
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “Reading for pleasure boosts children’s creativity, mental well-being and performance at school and beyond, and is one of the most important things we can instil in children. These awards recognise some amazing work from schools and pupils who have shown a real commitment to building and sustaining a reading culture.”
Following the success of the second year and the expansion to include lower primary, the First Minister's Reading Challenge is being extended further and at the beginning of the new term the Challenge will be open to secondary schools, libraries and community groups.