Schoolchildren celebrate a grand win of book tokens

Young readers in Whitley Bay were celebrating after their school won £1,000 worth of book tokens – just in time to stock up its new library.
​
Star of the Sea Primary School, which is a member of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, entered the National Book Tokens prize draw competition after a teaching assistant saw it promoted on Twitter.

“We were thrilled when we heard we had won, as we have a new library,” said the school’s English Lead, Clare Taylor.

“We are also adding to our class libraries to encourage reading for pleasure.

“Books and literacy are very important at Star of the Sea – we enjoy reading, and children take a class library book home each week to share with their adult.

“The new library is small but well stocked, so it will make a huge difference to be able to buy new and exciting books.”

The school was keen to use its winnings to support a local business, she added, and decided to spend £250 of the book tokens at The Bound in Whitley Bay.

Four Key Stage 2 children, aged seven to 11, were chosen as school representatives to visit the bookshop, where they enjoyed browsing the bookshelves and helping to select the new titles.

The remaining book tokens will be shared across the school, with each year group allocated a budget to purchase books for their respective class libraries.

“The selection will be made from recommended book lists and will include books that reflect diversity,” continued Mrs Taylor.

“There will be a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, but mostly fiction, and we expect to get somewhere around 100 to 150 books, depending on the cost of each book.”

Star of the Sea’s new library opened just weeks before the book token win, after the school converted its former computer suite to house the facility, which contains over 1,000 books suitable for readers from nursery to Year 6.

“The children love it,” Mrs Taylor added. “They enjoy going to the library and having story time and choosing a book.

“It is hugely important to have a good range of books, so that all children can find books that are suited to their interests, to promote a life-long love of reading.”