Pupils share love of books at Wallsend school

Young readers at a Wallsend school have been reviewing their favourite books in an initiative to promote the pleasures of reading.

The children at St Aidan’s Catholic Primary School are taking part in Big Up Your Book, where they recommend reads to their fellow pupils.

“This term at St Aidan’s we have launched another initiative to promote Reading for Pleasure, one of the key indicators of academic, social and economic success in later life,” explained Rachel Lalor, Headteacher at the school, which is part of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust.

“Sitting alongside the Caterpillar Reading app, which promotes conversation about our favourite books in school, Big Up Your Book promotes reading and ‘book chat’ at home.”

“It’s a really simple idea, and one which has been embraced by all year groups in school, and our children absolutely love it,” she continued. “Each class has its own Big Up Your Book book bag, and, every week, a different child from each class takes home the bag, which contains craft items and coloured pens and pencils, and writes or illustrates their own double-page celebration of the book that they are currently reading, or a recent read that they want to recommend to their friends.

“They can draw a picture, share their favourite paragraph, tell us about their favourite character, recreate the cover, or express their enthusiasm for their favourite book in any way they like. They then bring the bag back in and share what they have done with their class.”

Children across all year groups at the school are participating in the scheme.

“The idea is that Big Up Your Book will stay with the class of children throughout their time in school, and will grow with them year after year, providing a wonderful record of their journey as a group of readers throughout their school life,” said Ms Lalor.

“Big Up Your Bag has been an instant success. Children from every class have been telling me how much they have enjoyed inspiring their friends to read the same books as them. Our Nursery children were really excited about wanting to read some of the books that their friends have told them about – luckily we have multiple copies in the school library!”

Other Reading for Pleasure activities at St Aidan’s include library visits, meeting with authors, and dedicated reading time within school, while Big Up Your Book focuses on encouraging reading outside of the classroom.

“The fact that this aspect of reading takes place at home is really important,” added Mrs Lalor. “Children need support to develop the habit and love of reading. 

“Research has shown that three core categories support readers and these are reading aloud, time reading together as a family, and book chat.

“Big Up Your Book has all that covered, and is fun to do.”