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02 May 2012 at 10:22
Year 7 students at The Hayling College, Hampshire, are having a great time with their first ever Readathon, launched on World Book Day (1st March). So far the 104 pupils have read 423 books, racking up over £1,000 in sponsorship pledges and earning £200 worth of free books for their school library.
The keenest reader, pictured here, has read an astonishing 38 books, ranging from abridged Shakespeare to Anthony Horowitz. She said: "I read all the time but now there’s even more reason because it’s helping to raise money for charity."
Even relucatant readers have been transformed into bookworms by the buzz of Readathon. Said one: ‘I’d never read, but I made an effort as it was for charity – now I can’t stop reading."
All the children have twice weekly 25-minute sessions to read towards their Readathon challenge as well as an hour every fortnight, but they are all making their own time to get ahead.
"Our pupils have adored the challenge of Readathon," says Lorraine Corram, Head of English at The Hayling College. "This is the first year we have participated, and we have had such an amazing response."
(Photo by kind courtesy of The News, Portsmouth)
Tags: Readathon | reluctant readers | Hampshire | Portsmouth | Hayling College
Posted in school success stories | No Comments
01 May 2012 at 12:31
With the shortlist for the 2012 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Book Awards recently announced, many schools are following the Awards process via the scheme's excellent shadowing site.
Some schools are using the Awards as the theme for their annual Readathon sponsored read. At least one, Ranelagh School, had the foresight to save the free book vouchers they earned with their previous Readathon to buy copies of the shortlisted books for their school library. (Readathon schools earn free book vouchers worth 20% of their Readathon sponsorship money.)
Both medals are awarded annually by children's librarians at CILIP (The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals).
- The Carnegie Medal is awarded for an outstanding book for children and young people. (see shortlist)
- The Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded for an outstanding illustration of a book for children and young people. (see shortlist)
With the winners due to be announced at 1pm on 14 June, there's still plenty of time (including half term) to get pupils reading these fabulous books. They can review the books and choose their favourites – and maybe they'll predict the real winners!
If you'd like to shadow the Awards via a Readathon, please click here to order your free Readathon resource pack which should arrive within 5 working days.
Tags: CILIP | Carnegie Children's Book Award | Kate Greenaway Children's Book Award | 2012
Posted in Readathon sponsored read | awards | No Comments
27 April 2012 at 11:44
With just 15 pupils, Ollaberry Primary School in Shetland proves that you don't have to be a big school to enjoy a successful Readathon.
During the School's Book Week, which kicked off just after World Book Day,pupils read for an average of 301 minutes per pupil, totalling 3,921 minutes in all - that's nearly three solid days!
Their reading-related activities were as follows:
- pupils and staff brought in their pyjamas for a "bedtime story" session
- the children had a nice surprise when three guest storytellers came to visit
- the youngest class read the book "The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark" and sewed their own felt Plop baby Barn Owls
- everyone enjoyed a wonderful book-themed dinner of "Mrs Grinling's Fish n' Chips" from The Lighthouse Keeper books and "Willie Wonka's Chocolate Cupcakes" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- all pupils were also given World Book Day vouchers to spend on books
Brilliant ideas that we are sure other schools will love to share! Congratulations to everyone at Ollaberry who made their event such a resounding success!
Tags: Shetland | Ollaberry
Posted in Readathon sponsored read | primary school | school success stories | Scotland | No Comments
25 April 2012 at 10:27
As part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympics, an amazing festival of 37 Shakespeare plays in 37 languages kicked off this week on Shakespeare's birthday, Monday 23rd April. Performances will take place not only at The Globe, but at venues all over Britain.
As the biggest Shakespeare festival ever, this is a landmark event that every schoolchild should know about! Although most children won't have the opportunity to enjoy a festival play at first hand, there are plenty of other ways of making Shakespeare accessible to even the youngest child. Here are links to some of our favourite children's editions of Shakespeare:
Real Reads' Collection of William Shakespeare Titles
The Orchard Book of Shakespeare Stories
Mr William Shakespeare's Plays
10 Best Shakespeare Stories Ever
Tags: Shakespeare | London Olympics 2012 | books | children
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28 March 2012 at 10:36
A coven of witches turned up at St Neot's Preparatory School's non-uniform day, held to raise money for Readathon on World Book Day.
Children and staff from Years 3-8 dressed up as their favourite book characters. The school's official Readathon organiser, Librarian Mrs Mary Cassidy, was clearly not the only one to love good books about witches!
And when it comes to good books about witches, there are plenty of them - from Julia Donaldson's "Room on the Broom" to Roald Dahl's "The Witches." What's your favourite book about witches?
Tags: non-uniform day | witches | books about witches | librarian
Posted in Readathon sponsored read | World Book Day | prep school | No Comments
28 March 2012 at 09:58
Clachan Primary School, a small rural school in Scotland, came up with a great new idea for Readathon this term. It decided to hold its sponsored read on the Friday evening after World Book Day so that the whole village could come along to join in the fun.
Children, parents, staff and other members of the local community were invited to bring in their favourite book to share from 7pm until midnight. The celebrations culminated in a midnight feast! By charging admission, the reading event raised an impressive £59 for Readathon and earned the school enough free book tokens to buy several new books for its library.
"It was a great literacy experience!" reports Mrs Catherine Black, Acting Head Teacher.
It just goes to show that you don't have to be a big school to have big ideas - or to hold a successful and memorable Readathon! Congratulations to everyone who helped make Clachan Primary School's Readathon such a great success.
Tags: Clachan | Clachan Primary School | Argyll and Bute | literacy | new ideas | reading
Posted in World Book Day | Scotland | No Comments
13 March 2012 at 11:50
Readathon was delighted to be invited to provide the judges for a creative writing competition run by Build A Book, which provides creative writing workshops for Gloucestershire primary school children.
Entrants were invited to colour in a snowy scene and write a paragraph inspired by the picture. The many fabulous entries were judged by two children's authors who work for Readathon, Brough Girling and Francesca Stich.
Three lucky winners each received the prize of a free place on a Build A Book workshop, plus lots of Build A Book goodies. In first place was Madison (7) from Leckhampton School with "Just the Way Mr Snowman likes it". A close second was Daniel (8) of Lakeside Primary School and his "Golden Penguin". Lewis (11) of Warden Hill Primary School was in third place with "Slicing through the icy snow".
Here's Madison's winning story:
"One frosty and cold day - just the way Mr Snowman liked it - some children ran out and said, "It's snowing!" So they put on a woolly scarf and a cuddly hat and a warm coat. Then the two boys started having a snow ball fight by Mr Snowman. He was terrified. Then some children went tobogganing down the hill. Mr Snowman will be squashed! Suddenly he started to move..."
Tags: Gloucestershire | Readathon | creative writing | Brough Girling | Francesca Stich
Posted in Build A Book | No Comments
13 March 2012 at 10:02
Readathon's former Chairman Roald Dahl has been voted favourite children's author in a survey by the Teachit Primary website. Joint second were current Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson and JK Rowling. Julia Donaldson's "The Gruffalo" was voted best children's book.
All of these authors feature frequently on the lists of books chosen by primary school children for their Readathon sponsored read. Some especially prolific readers have even volunteered to read all of Roald Dahl's children's books or the complete Harry Potter series.
But Readathon participants are not obliged to read on this scale. Our sponsored reading scheme - the only UK national sponsored reading event - is designed to be accessible to readers of all ranges of ability.
"With Readathon, each child chooses their own reading material," explains Brough Girling, Readathon founder. "For some children, especially struggling or reluctant readers, completing just one book of any kind will be a real achievement. But the most important thing about Readathon is that it makes them realise that reading is fun. This encourages them to read for pleasure, a habit proven to provide substantial lifelong benefits."
Tags: primary school | reading | reluctant readers | struggling readers
Posted in benefits of reading for pleasure | authors | Readathon sponsored read | primary school | No Comments
02 March 2012 at 11:48
Jeff Kinney's Diary of A Wimpy Kid has been awarded Blue Peter Best Children's Book of the Last 10 Years. Children were asked to vote for titles in a shortlist of the decade's ten bestselling children's books, which included stories about Hogwarts wizard Harry Potter by J K Rowling and the tale of the young James Bond by Charlie Higson.
For the full story, please click here.
Posted in authors | awards | No Comments
26 January 2012 at 10:09
The Spring 2012 issue of PTA-UK magazine highlights Readathon as an ideal, easy-to-run project for PTAs.
Some of the Readathon offce team are PTA members for their children's schools, so we know just how valuable these organisations are!
Although most schools' Readathons are run by teachers, we welcome applications from PTA volunteers who are helping to promote literacy or organising PSHE-related activities. A Readathon is also a great way to acquire new books for the school library without using the school budget or PTA funds.
Readathon is suitable for children of all ages, so whether your PTA is associated with a primary school or a secondary school, we'll be pleased to hear from you.
PTA-UK is the national charity representing over 13,600 PTAs across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Tags: PTA | library | books | PHSE | free
Posted in Fundraising | free books | primary school | secondary school | No Comments
