After much discussion with our Literacy Leaders, we agreed that one of the main elements to Literacy Week is that it should involve everyone, even those who (think) they do not like to read. With more libraries being closed across the country, we, as a school, as parents/ guardians and as a community, need to push reading more than ever so children can understand the benefits of reading for pleasure. Not only is there a strong link between students who read for pleasure and their school attainment grade, but reading for pleasure goes beyond this and helps children have “increased empathy, improved relationships with others, reductions in the symptoms of depression and dementia, and improved wellbeing”. (https://readingagency.org.uk/news/blog/why-is-reading-for-pleasure-important.html)

With all of this in mind, we have decided that, this year, Literacy Week will be renamed ‘Anti-Literacy Week’, to show students the importance of literacy and the enjoyment that can be gained from reading, even if they feel as if it is not for them. There will be a wide range of activities for students to take part in and competitions to celebrate literacy. On Monday, there will be a Book Swap in the LRC, where students can bring in their unwanted books to swap with one another – a brilliant way to have new reading material and encourage discussion about books. We ask that students get permission from their parents/guardians on books that they plan to swap.

Our guest author for this year is Seth Burkett. Seth uses his experience of being a professional footballer to write fiction books about football, and we are very lucky to welcome him to deliver workshops about resilience. On Tuesday we will be hosting a ‘training prep’ session for those attending the workshop. We will also be holding an Accelerated Reader Pizza Party to congratulate those for their contribution to the programme. On top of this, there will also be a “Guerrilla Book Fair” which will be run by our Literacy Leaders; we encourage students to take part in this and issue a mystery book with no cover.

Wednesday will be another day of competitions. During tutor time, students will be taking part in debates and there will be a prize for groups who can battle out their argument! We will also have online master classes running in the LRC during lunch, which range from illustrations, how to create a character in depth and ways to get creative with story writing.

World Book Day falls on Thursday 5th March and this will be our designated Dress up Day, where we encourage students to come dressed up as their favourite book character. Please be reminded that this is not a ‘non-school uniform’ day, and it is not an opportunity for students to come in their casual everyday attire. Form tutors will be asking students what they plan on wearing to ensure that students do not come in casual clothing. We ask that if students choose to dress up they can either donate £1 or a book of their choice to charity. If students choose not to dress up they do not have to make a donation but are expected to be in full school uniform.

On Friday, we are encouraging students to bring in a book of their choice and to read during tutor time so please can you ensure that your child has a suitable book to read for Friday. Lealands will also be taking part in the #bookface challenge, so if you have a book that has a great cover for this, please bring it in so we can get a photo!

Our Literacy Week has always been popular and successful and this is due to our students taking part, so we thank you for your encouragement for this week. To thank students for the involvement, we will also be putting in 5 vouchers (all different amounts) in books, so if a student loans out a book from the LRC they could be the lucky winner of a voucher! We are very excited for Literacy Week this year and hope that your child is involved in one of the many activities taking place. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Ms Rezaei or Miss Boreham about the week.