This is how we do it

Supporting out-of-school-hours learning This is how we do it A guide for reading clubs Copyright © ContinYou 2005 Extra Time describes ContinYou’s approach to study support, otherwise known as out-of-school-hours learning (oshl). This approach aims to: l ensure that high-quality study support/oshl activities are within the reach of every child and young person in the UK l provide a wide range of accessible learning opportunities that extend, enrich and promote learning beyond the mainstream classroom. Extra Time is also the name of a range of services and resources that support the strategic development of study support/oshl activities in schools, local authorities and communities. Study support/oshl Study support/oshl describes the wide variety of informal learning activities that young people voluntarily take part in outside normal school hours. There is growing evidence that participation in these activities leads to improvements in young people’s self-esteem, attitudes towards learning, achievements, classroom behaviour and school attendance. About Extra Time Since 1992, ContinYou (formerly Education Extra) has been the leading UK not-for-profit organisation promoting and developing the concept of study support/oshl. We have identified three main types of study support/oshl activities: l extension activities, such as homework, study or revision clubs, which extend curriculum learning by building on what children learn during the school day l enriching activities, such as rocket clubs or dance clubs, which complement and expand on what children learn during the school day, providing ‘extras’ for which there may not be space in the formal curriculum l enabling activities, such as reading or maths clubs, or volunteering or mentoring activities, which help to make the curriculum accessible to young people and/or enable them to develop life skills. Within study support/oshl there is a clear link between informal learning and mainstream educational achievement – it is the effect on children’s attainments that adds value to traditional extracurricular activities. Why is study support/oshl so important? Developing study support/oshl activities brings many benefits to schools and communities, as well as to individual pupils. These activities contribute to key strategies for achieving: l school improvement and higher standards l better behaviour and attendance l ‘full-service’ extended schooling l creativity and enrichment l workforce remodelling l easier transition between primary and secondary education l greater social inclusion l personalised learning l ways of building schools of the future l joined-up children’s services. ContinYou’s Extra Time resources will help you not only to develop study support/oshl activities, but also to embed them within your school development plan. ContinYou publications ContinYou can offer a wide range of advice, information and research publications. Supported by the Welsh Assembly Government, ContinYou Cymru has also produced the Out-ofschool- hours learning training and resource pack and A code of practice – out-of school-hours learning. These are cross-referenced and can be used together to support the development of oshl. For a full list of our resources, contact us on: Tel: 020 8709 9900 Fax: 020 8709 9933 This is one of a series of publications produced by ContinYou on the following topics: l Breakfast Clubs Plus l Sum-it! – maths clubs l Book-it! – reading clubs l OwnZone – personalised care and learning clubs. Introduction 4 What is a reading club? 5 Why do we need oshl reading clubs 6 What happens at a reading club? 7 Where do we find the members? 8 Who will run your reading club? 9 Partnerships 10 Do we need management support? 11 When and where do we meet? 12 What do we actually do? 13 Activities 21 How do we get the books and resources we need? 25 How do we tell everyone about the club? 27 How do we keep it going? 28 Will we need funding and where can we find it? 29 How will the reading club contribute to the wider learning agenda? 31 Useful information 33 Contents Copyright © ContinYou 2006 Welcome to This is how we do it, the Extra Time resource that helps Welsh schools set up out-of-schoolhours (oshl) reading programmes. The booklet is aimed at primary schools, secondary schools, local education authorities and others involved in providing out-of-schoolhours programmes. Whatever your role is – headteacher, teacher, librarian, local authority officer, learning support assistant, tutor, parent, governor, or community partner or volunteer – you will finds lots of advice and help here to help you establish an oshl reading club. Each section of the book deals with a different issue that you will need to consider when you are planning your reading club activities, and provides answers to practical questions. You will also find activity sheets, case studies and tips. Introduction Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 5 There has been a phenomenal growth in the number of reading clubs for adults and children in recent years. Most are centred around the same principles: l Members read because they enjoy it. l They choose what they read. l They regularly talk to each other about their books. l They create opportunities to indulge in their passion. It is now recognised that reading for pleasure can be a key to academic success and improved life chances. Research has shown that students who were more enthusiastic about and engaged in reading, performed better in tests, and that being a frequent reader is more of an advantage, on its own, than wealth or social status (Reading for change, OECD, 2002). Reading clubs offer children and young people opportunities to enjoy reading, to read for pleasure and to engage with books and other readers outside the classroom and the formal curriculum. ‘The best reading environment is one where there is an expectation of pleasure in reading, where there is excitement in talking about books and enjoyment in being read to.’ Prue Goodwin, in Creating a reading culture handbook, Reading Connects What can a reading club achieve? Research has shown that book clubs do work and do achieve positive benefits for their members. ‘There were significant improvements in the reading skills of lower-ability members in particular – 80% of the Year 7 pupils improved their reading ages compared with only 39% of non-members’ Reading clubs report, Education Extra, 2003 A successful reading club: l focuses on reading for pleasure and enjoyment l enables children to see themselves as readers l widens children’s reading range and capacity l improves their reading skills l creates committed, keen, lifelong readers l gives children confidence in their own reading choices l enables children to take a risk with their reading What is a reading club? l celebrates reading as an end in itself l motivates readers l helps create a reading culture within schools or other settings l fosters a positive image for reading and for libraries l encourages imagination, free thinking, reflection and self-expression l changes the perception of reading from a solitary, even ‘geeky’, pastime into a sociable and popular activity to enjoy with others l enables children to take control of their own learning. As an out-of-school-hours learning activity, a reading club can extend the reading experience beyond the requirements of the curriculum, can enrich the lives of young people through encounters with the wealth and variety of experiences to be found in the world of books, and can enable young readers to develop a lifelong reading habit and enjoyment of books. Copyright © ContinYou 2006 Some people might ask don’t we already do enough in the classroom? It’s the fact that reading clubs are not classroom-based or curriculum-led that make them so effective and valuable. A reading club rescues reading from being associated with literacy or ‘work’. As Prue Goodwin says, it’s ‘an assessment-free zone’, where reading is seen as ‘a life enhancer, not just a life skill’. (Creating a reading culture handbook, Reading Connects) The emphasis is on reading for pleasure – and valuing reading as an end in itself. Members choose to attend and choose what they read, which fosters the proven link between enjoying learning and achievement. Readers will learn to choose freely what they want to read and they have a chance to share their reading choices with others. Clubs in libraries, childcare settings and other community venues take reading out of the classroom. Many clubs also offer readers a chance to interact with an adult who is passionate about reading but who is not their teacher. For higher ability readers, clubs offer opportunities to: l explore a wider range of challenging books and authors Why do we need oshl reading clubs? l indulge their own reading passions l encourage and enthuse other readers. For reluctant readers, clubs offer a chance to: l encounter reading in a more relaxed and informal setting l realise that reading is about enjoyment, not achievement, free choice, not compulsion l mix with pupils who have a wider range of abilities and ages l receive the support of non-teaching adults such as librarians or volunteers. For readers who find reading difficult, the club’s activities can: l offer different ways of engaging with books l foster respect for everyone’s individual reading styles and choices l be motivating as the members hear other readers talk about books l provide support from a community of reading adults and peers. 6 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 7 Reading clubs and groups make reading sociable. Though reading is often a private, solitary activity, it can also be a shared, communal pleasure. At reading groups of all kinds, readers come together regularly to talk about their reading, to share their experiences with books, to argue and to agree. The secret of a successful club is to have a wide variety of activities within a regular framework – book discussions, listening to books, quizzes and competitions, creating displays, meeting authors and so on. ‘It is clear that reading clubs that cater for all interests are more inclusive than special interest clubs. They cater for all abilities, for both boys and girls, and can easily accommodate a wide range of themes that appeal to all pupils.’ Reading clubs report, Education Extra, 2003 What sorts of reading clubs already exist? Many schools run reading clubs, often after school or during holidays, but also as part of a breakfast club, during lunchtime or during school holidays. A teacher may run these, but many are supported by other school staff, pupils and older students. What happens at a reading club? Many local libraries run reading clubs or reading groups for children and young people – usually after school or on Saturdays. Their aims and activities are very similar to those of school clubs – to bring readers and books together and to encourage reading for pleasure. Some authorities run Orange Chatterbooks groups. (These are a partnership between Orange and public libraries across the UK, formed to create and support reading groups for 4 to 12 year olds.) A specially trained local librarian leads the groups, and members receive Chatterbooks goody bags. There are plans to develop a bilingual element to Chatterbooks for Wales. Ask your local children’s librarian for more details or look at The Reading Agency’s website at www.readingagency.org.uk . An after-school club at a childcare setting or a holiday playscheme could also run a reading club as a valuable and enjoyable activity for children in their care. A reading club would also be a natural extension for a homework club to provide. There is no one model for a successful club. Each one has its own characteristics. This guide will help you decide what sort of club you want yours to be, offer some advice on how to get it going, and suggest some activities to do. Spread throughout this guide are ‘This is how we do it…’ case studies from reading clubs in Wales, which share their experiences and tips. This is how we do it… Every book is an adventure, so the young people who joined our teenage reading group decided to call it ‘The Adventure Group’. They come to the library every month to talk books (and eat chocolate!). They write up comments about the books on the library computers, then display them in the teenage section. They put ‘recommended reads’ stickers on library books they’ve enjoyed, and they’ve been on visits – the local BBC studios were a highlight. At the Christmas party, every member brought a friend to introduce them to the library and the group. We sell the drinks and chocolate – they prefer to pay a few pence for it than be given freebies like younger children! Tip l Giving a reading club a name, like ‘The Adventure Group’ can be an attractive pull for young readers to join up. Local library assistant Copyright © ContinYou 2006 The only way of knowing whether anyone is interested in a reading club is to ask them. Ask parents, families and school colleagues to find out what they think of your initial ideas and whether they have any ideas of their own. Ask some of the keenest children to devise a short survey of their year group. Use a suggestion box or a graffiti wall to collect ideas and opinions. Try an online or text survey with older children. Your club will be more successful if potential members have a say in its planning. This will give them a sense of ownership and the club can cater for a wider variety of interests and expectations. By asking around, you will also find out if there’s a specific group of youngsters you’d especially like to encourage to join, or if there are specific outcomes you’d like to achieve. By consulting colleagues you may spark their interest in helping you run the club or offering specific activities occasionally. Where do we find the members? Should we target potential members? Ask yourself whether you are offering the club to a specific year or age group? Many secondary schools, for example, have Year 7 reading clubs. If so, target everyone in that year/age group with announcements in registration classes and assemblies, and posters in prominent places. If you have time, send personal invitations to everyone – make it feel a privilege to become a member. If you plan a Year 7 group, consider visiting local primary schools during the previous summer term, or work with the local library to invite children who take part in the national Summer Reading Challenge. Follow up in September with more publicity and invitations. You may also want to offer some ‘taster’ sessions for the Year 6 pupils. Such a club will then also be a source of support to aid transition from primary to secondary school. (See From primary to secondary: moving on: out-ofschool- hours learning and transition, ContinYou Cymru, 2005). Mixed-age clubs can be very successful as children mix with new friends outside their year or peer group. In small schools, reading clubs will inevitably be mixed age, though mixing children from Key Stage 1 and 2 could be challenging because of the wide difference in reading skills. Try choosing to read books by authors who write for a wide age range, or use picture books suitable for a wider and older age range. Plan activities where the actual reading material is a personal choice, but the activity is suitable no matter what has been read. On pages 13–20 you will find lots of suggestions for activities. How about linking up with an existing general oshl club that your pupils attend and offering to run a book club with them once a week or once a fortnight? You would have a ready cohort of members, a venue and adult help. Don’t try to force anyone to attend – it’s not a case of ‘It’ll be good for them’. Membership should be voluntary and members need to choose to belong rather than feel singled out as needing extra help. If you do feel an individual would enjoy the club and benefit from it, use peer power and suggestions. Encouraging reluctant readers to attend can have great results. The most powerful tool will be an already successful club that people will want to join. Design some activities around the needs of a specific group, but allow anyone to take part. Give extra encouragement to children you think may not attend. Consider the needs of children with special needs – both their physical access to the club’s venue and activities, and their learning abilities. Activities will need to be inclusive. Young readers with dyslexia or learning difficulties can enjoy the club’s more relaxed attitude towards reading and its emphasis on reading for pleasure. Being in the company of other keen readers will boost their motivation to read despite their own difficulties. 8 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 9 If you can, try not to do it on your own. One person – often a teacher or school librarian or club leader – will need to be the co-ordinator, overseeing the activities, making sure the club meets its objectives, arranging staffing and premises, finding funding and developing partnerships. Increasingly, however, other adults including classroom assistants, learning mentors and tutors are taking such responsibilities in partnership with teachers or librarians. The activities could be run by a range of people. This will give variety within the club’s programme. Look at the next section on partnerships for ideas about who could help. Developing a reading culture, via the reading club, means involving as many people as possible, so try and get nonteaching staff, school librarians, parents and governors involved. You could ask them to do a specific task to help the club in some way. ‘The essential ingredient, at the heart of the reading environment, is not the physical surroundings, but the teacher, the librarian, the willing school helper, the supportive older pupil. People supply the ‘space’, whether physically or Who will run your reading club? metaphorically, where young readers learn what it means to be literate.’ Prue Goodwin, in Creating a reading culture handbook, Reading Connects Most successful clubs have a core of one or two organisers and a wider network of partners who provide specialist support and input. Give special responsibilities to members to encourage them to be involved in the club – choosing the books, setting up activities, welcoming guests, finding new members, creating publicity materials. Find out what members expect when they join the club. Invite the new members to come up with a name for the club – and don’t be afraid to change it every now and then if it will attract new members. Always make sure you have arrangements if key staff are off sick – perhaps a list of parents or other volunteers who could step in at short notice. Have a file of ‘quick choice’ activities they could use without preparation. Remember to work within your school’s or organisation’s security, health and safety and child protection policies when inviting outside people to help with the club. Recognise commitment Acknowledge and value everyone’s contribution to the club. Will you need to offer payment or time off in lieu to some staff or recognise their contribution in some other way? Could accreditations for professional development, credits for qualifications or even house merit points be awarded to staff and older pupils? Discuss these ideas with your headteacher or senior staff. This is how we do it… Our Story Club for Nursery and Key Stage 1 is run by a keen parent and a rota of volunteers. We meet every month after school to listen to stories read aloud and to play some games. The parents come with the children, and the local Cylch Meithrin also join in. Some of our story readers are from the local community – friends of the school. One parent is a fireman and he comes in his uniform. We’re a small bilingual school, so we have stories in both languages. The teachers don’t have to do anything – it’s all done by the parents (they even have a rota for the snacks). We visit the local library about three times a year for a storytime there, and families can borrow the school’s storysacks after a session to take home and enjoy. It’s a wonderful chance for the children to share stories with each other and with their parents. Tip l In the context of particular books your members are reading (for example, ones that feature people such as the fireman in this case study), invite other people in your local community with roles or jobs that would interest the young people. Village primary head Copyright © ContinYou 2006 To help sustain and develop your club, you will need to create effective partnerships. This is true whether your club is within or outside school provision. Partnerships will widen the opportunities available to your members and staff – they offer a chance to work with resources not normally available or to draw on expert skills and knowledge. Partnerships will help you develop links with the local community and give staff a chance to develop new skills. Partners themselves will benefit by gaining new skills, gaining a higher profile within the school and encouraging use of the community service. Involving others will also lighten the load on the club leader or co-ordinator in thinking about, and running, activities. Partnerships might include: l schools – individually or in clusters l the local library l the Schools Library Service l literacy advisory teachers and athrawon bro l bookshops l parents/grandparents – do they have special interests or skills that might help? l other family members Partnerships l older children or young people l students l organisations such as the Urdd, Young Farmers, scouts and guides, youth service, Mentrau Iaith or arts organisations l local businesses – even if they can’t offer funding, they may be able to offer in-kind support – goods, free use of facilities or equipment, subsidised transport, mentors, or visitors to talk about books/tell stories. By involving older young people and adults, your members will see role models from a variety of backgrounds. Support for the club from an interested adult who is seen to enjoy reading will help enormously. Keep in regular contact with your partners – plan activities together, making sure you share the same objectives. Review progress regularly and don’t be afraid to amend or even end a partnership if it isn’t working. Invite your partners to events and make sure they are credited in any press releases or publicity materials. When inviting a partner to get involved with your club, make it clear to them how your members will benefit and how the partner will benefit. Acknowledging support For most partners and volunteers, seeing their contribution genuinely valued and acknowledged will be reward enough and will keep them involved. Things like thank-you letters and messages, invitations to events and celebrations, and acknowledgement in press publicity cost very little, but are always appreciated. Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 11 The support and commitment of your headteacher, senior management team, governors, head of service or organisation will be important to your club’s long-term success. Ask for help with finding funding, embedding the club in the school’s or organisation’s development planning, and promoting the club with parents, families, the wider community and partners. Reading clubs lead to improvements in children’s and young people’s reading skills, their commitment to school, their self-esteem, their behaviour and their love of learning and lifelong learning – make sure your management knows this. If you need actual research evidence, look at the results of the Year 7 Reading Clubs project run by Education Extra (now ContinYou) published in Reading clubs report – you can download it from www.continyou.org.uk . Get senior staff and other volunteers involved in some way – ask them to come in and talk about their own reading experiences; ask them what they’re currently reading, and run a competition to see if club members can guess who’s reading what. If you have visitors to the club, make sure the managers know about the visit. Do we need management support? You will find help and support on all aspects of managing an oshl club in the new Welsh Code of practice – out-ofschool- hours learning, which is available from ContinYou Cymru. This is how we do it… Our club’s main aims are to get the young people reading for pleasure and enjoyment and to help them explore the world of books. When I came to this school library, the group already existed but tended to focus everything on shadowing book awards. We used the Big Read idea and Year 11s would read the Top 21 books from that. I felt I wanted to bring a bit more variety in, so we now also have a theme per term – at the moment it’s fantasy and science fiction – and it’s very popular. Last term’s historical fiction was a bit more of a challenge. We will shadow the Carnegie Medal, because you really feel part of that – there’s an excellent interactive website. We had a party at the end of the summer term last year to celebrate the medal winner and invited governors and other key people, so that we could promote the club to them. We meet every week and I find they need something small to do as well as talk about their reading – so we write very short readers’ comments, design posters to promote books, and create new characters for books, for example. All the members get merit points for commitment and effort in the club. I plan every session (otherwise there’d be chaos or boredom) and I do read all the books myself – that’s essential if you’re going to chat with the members about books and suggest new ones for them to read. We don’t have exclusive reading club stock – we use the school library’s stock – but club members do get first pick of new books – it’s one of the perks! We don’t have a budget – but I run two book-selling schemes and make good commission, which helps with buying new books for the school library. Though I take the lead in running the club, I get good support from staff in the English department – one or two usually attend the meetings and they promote the club to their classes. They’ll often identify someone who would benefit from being a member. I have seen the members develop – particularly in their confidence as readers – what they choose to read and how they talk about it. We’ve got some special needs members and it’s great that the older members still come along – they support the younger ones and are very powerful role models. Tips l Plan ahead – for the term and for each session. Know what you want to achieve. l Keep an open mind and be flexible within the framework of your plan for the session – it’s about enjoyment, not hard work. l Make sure the members feel special. Secondary school library assistant Copyright © ContinYou 2006 Decide when you want to meet – it will influence what you do and who can attend. l A breakfast club before school? Time is very limited but you could run short, high-impact activities. l At lunchtime? Could children eat a packed lunch while listening to a book being read aloud or while discussing a book, and then move on to other activities once they’ve eaten? Could members be given passes to have an early school lunch? l After school? There’s less time pressure at this time, but transport may be an issue for many. Could you negotiate with the local transport service or find community transport? Would the local youth service or volunteer parents be able to help? Some children might also be involved in other after-school activities. l Could your reading club be incorporated with an existing afterschool, breakfast or homework club? l What about Saturdays? Staffing may be more of a problem at weekends – but a partnership with a community service such as the library, museum or sports centre is worth considering. l Holiday time? Many short-term holiday time reading clubs have worked well, especially if they have a specific goal. Again a local partnership may work – a holiday play scheme or day care setting, for example. Short-term clubs are often less daunting for young people, especially for reluctant readers. It helps them to know that they only need to commit to something for a few weeks and not the whole year. If it’s successful, repeat it for another short block of time. How long each session or meeting lasts depends on the time of day and the number or range of activities you plan. It’s better to keep it short and lively than to try and stretch it out and risk having bored members who will stop attending. Ask the members what they think. Where will we meet? l If you meet within the school, try not to use a regular classroom. If you have to, move the furniture round. l The school library would be ideal if it’s big enough. Close the library to other pupils during the meeting period or you will be disrupted. Non-members may be so keen to know what goes on behind the closed doors that they ask to join! When and where do we meet? l In warm weather, how about holding a meeting outdoors? l Your local library may be happy to host a club after school, on a Saturday or in holiday time. Similarly a local museum, arts centre or bookshop might also be interested. l Consider local community centres or church halls/chapels or vestries. To keep things fresh, consider using a different location occasionally. Go on a visit or use special facilities such as an ICT room or drama room. You will need plenty of comfortable seating, in an informal layout if possible. You may also need: l facilities for equipment such as CD players l computer access for searching book and author websites l storage for the club’s books and resources l a prominent noticeboard to publicise the club’s meetings and activities. This is how we do it… One of the best things about our Junior Bookworms club is that the children come from three different local schools, so they meet new friends within their community. One of the schools is a Welsh-medium school and, as this group reads English books, parents find it helps support their English reading skills. The members are all aged between 7 and 11 and we meet every other week for an hour after school in the local library. We spend about four sessions on each book or theme – we read and discuss the books together, then do quizzes, competitions, and activities based on the books. We all sit round a big table and we provide free refreshments. Tip l Forming a club with pupils from several schools can help tap into a wider base of resources, volunteers and ideas. Local library assistant 12 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 13 The whole purpose of your reading club is to get children and young people reading and talking about books. The key to success is to offer a variety of activities and opportunities to encourage engagement with books and other readers – and to involve the members in planning your programme. Most of the actual reading will happen between club sessions – but occasionally you might want to offer some time for everyone to just sit and read. Many readers find it relaxing and enjoyable to do so during or after a busy school day. For older readers, with hours of coursework or homework to complete, reading time may be very limited. To make the most of the sociable aspect of belonging to a reading club, however, you will need to offer some planned activities. Some will be for the whole group to do together, others may be for smaller groups or pairs, and some for individuals. What do we actually do? Choice and variety l Offer choice – in what to read and what to do. It’s what makes the club different to the classroom. l Let the members decide what they want to do – perhaps over a term, a number of weeks or a holiday period – so that everyone has a chance to do an activity they have suggested. l Run a good variety of activities to keep everyone interested and enjoying it. l Design your programme so that it is flexible enough to enable new members to join at any time and so that they can quickly catch on to what’s happening. l Consider whether everyone can be involved in every activity or whether you will need to differentiate a little. Try suggesting extension activities to the more able members. However, it’s important to try and make sure that no one feels unable to participate in an activity. l You don’t have to come up with a new activity every time. Get feedback from the members and repeat popular activities. l Try introducing separate sessions for boys and for girls. l Be organised, in advance, with books and any other equipment or help you need. Getting going A general chat about how, why and where we read is a good way to start off the first meeting or to involve new members. It gets everyone talking about reading and helps readers reflect on their own reading experiences. l Use the ‘Dear reader’ question cards in this kit. l Ask each member to take a card and ask the question to the person sitting next to them. l You could also ask a question to the whole group and have a wider discussion. l Ask everyone to be as honest as they can and not to feel shy or silly about their answers – reinforce the club’s ethos that everyone is a reader and everyone’s reading is valued. Getting inside the covers Chat about books Get everyone talking about the books they’re reading or have just finished. It’s one of the most effective ways of encouraging reading for pleasure – word-of-mouth recommendation is by far the most powerful marketing tool for books. You may be all reading different books, or focusing on one book or one author. Lead a book discussion l Use the general questions in ‘Book chatting’ on page 21 to get things going or to bring a discussion back on course if you go off at a tangent. l Try to ask open questions or throw in a statement with which members will probably disagree – then debate! l The time spent discussing will depend on the age of the readers and on the book in question. Some wonderful books are great reads but are very hard to discuss. l You may get a better discussion with a book that some readers didn’t like. l If you’ve all read different books, ask members to champion their books and try to ‘sell’ them to the group. Copyright © ContinYou 2006 Author of the month Focus on one author over several meetings to give members a chance to read several books. Ask members to find out information about the author’s life from books or websites. Write to or email the author with feedback about the books (don’t expect an answer – but many authors will reply). See the ‘Useful contacts’ section for contact details. Hot seat Choose a character from a book familiar to everyone. Nominate a member to adopt the character’s persona and encourage the other members to ask questions about events in the book or how the character has behaved. This is a great way of encouraging readers to engage with a character or to look at different viewpoints within a book. Meet the books This is one way of helping you decide which books you want to read as a group and to encourage readers to take a risk with books. Collect together about twenty books across the whole range. Try to include books that are unfamiliar to your members, and books with unusual covers. Set the books out in front of the members and chat about the covers and the blurbs. Discuss which ones appeal to them and why. Which ones don’t they fancy and why? Who are the publishers trying to attract to read the book? Quick choice This will get you talking about how people choose books and about prejudices about books. Send everyone to the shelves to choose three books: one they really fancy reading themselves, one that will be a challenge for them and one that they would never normally touch with a barge pole. They must choose quickly – allow just a few minutes. Come back together and chat about what everyone chose and why. Tasters Collect together about ten varied books. Give each member two pieces of paper. Ask them to draw a positive mark on one (a tick, smiley face or a thumbsup) and a negative on the other (a cross, sad face or thumbs-down). You, or a willing volunteer, read aloud the first ten lines of a book and the first ten lines of page 40. The group then votes by using the voting cards: is the book a winner or not? Count up the votes to see which ones are most popular. Bookmarking Older readers may find bookmarking useful to help them focus on their reading experience and to prompt them in a book discussion. It works very well when several people are reading the same book. Photocopy the Bookmarking chart on page 24 in this pack and slice each sheet into the four bookmarks as shown. Give a set to each reader. As you read a book, place the bookmarks in the appropriate places and write a few comments on them. Leave them in their places in the book. Bring the book with its bookmarks to the group discussion. Compare where everyone placed them and the comments that each person made. Book selection Speak to the local children’s librarian or your school librarian to see whether club members could be involved in choosing books for the library’s stock. The librarian could bring in an approval collection of books and talk about how books are chosen for stock. Club members could then look through the collection and discuss the different books. Set a maximum amount to spend – the club members may have to make difficult choices in order to provide a good range of books. Their recommendations should then be purchased for the library. Special labels could be put inside the books to say they’ve been chosen by the club members. It would give the young readers a feeling of ownership of the stock in the library and would be a powerful peer recommendation to other readers. It would also be the sort of activity your local press might be interested in covering. ‘The biggest success in many [clubs] took place when members found they could enjoy books, and take pleasure in them, without being faced with the prospect of having to justify their choices’ (Reading clubs report, Education Extra, 2003) 14 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 15 Writing about books Within a reading club, the aim of writing about books is to get other people to read them, not to evaluate their literary merit. Be careful when you ask members to write about the books they’ve read – beware the killer book review! This research showed that writing book reviews was one of the few activities that didn’t work. Readers’ comments Rather than book reviews, help your members to record readers’ comments – their own or those of other readers. Comments are short, honest statements about a book and how the reader has reacted to it. They are easy to use in a display, in newsletters or on websites, and are more accessible to less fluent writers. Ask your members to imagine they are telling their best friends about the books they’ve just read. There’s no need to summarise the plots and it makes no difference whether they enjoyed or hated the books – they needn’t be afraid to say if they didn’t like the books. Three sentences are often enough: one to say something about the book’s main theme or setting; one about the reader’s experience as they read it; and one to give a tip to the next reader. There’s no need to comment on the quality of the book – ‘It was really good/brilliant/exciting/boring’ doesn’t tell you much! Here are two examples of useful readers’ comments. ‘Half in this world, half in a fantasy country, it’s full of weird creatures and impossible events. It’s the longest book I’ve ever read and enjoyed. The beginning is a bit boring but keep going – the bit on page 43 is brilliant!’ ‘It’s set in a school a bit like this one, but with an even more crazy PE teacher. My brother told me he hated this book so I just had to read it. The cover is a bit silly – just ignore it and go for the story.’ Create some small (postcard size) blank templates to limit how much they can write. Make templates to fit in with the theme of what you’re reading or whatever your end display will be. Pop one inside each book so that the readers can jot their thoughts down as they read or as soon as they’ve finished. Don’t force anyone to write comments. One or two per member each term will still give you a good collection. Jot down comments made by different readers about a book during a general discussion, then type them out. Using the comments in displays will show that everyone’s opinion is valued – and that it’s OK not to like a book. Bringing in the wide world of books Author visits and contacting authors Meeting and speaking to a published author is an unforgettable experience for young readers. It would be a highlight of your club’s year. As well as meeting the club members, you might want to ask the writer to speak to other classes or to hold a workshop for a group of pupils. Your local children’s librarian or Schools Library Service will have many contacts with authors – ask who they suggest and whether they can give you email addresses or phone numbers. Some authors give contact details on their websites. Academi (www.academi.org) lists many writers from Wales. There are also agencies such as Speaking of Books that arrange author visits to schools (Tel: 020 8692 4704). Writers are professional people and should be paid for working in your club. Expect to pay anything between £150 and £350 for a whole day. Financial support is available from Academi’s Writers on Tour scheme (see ‘Useful contacts’ section) – they will help to pay a writer’s fee and expenses. Your library service may already be arranging author visits to the area – ask if a writer would be willing to visit your club for an hour or so. The costs would be much lower and there would be less organising for you to do. Tips for welcoming authors in to your club: l Make the most of the day, but negotiate carefully with the author about how much they are willing to do. l Offer to arrange overnight accommodation if necessary. l Make sure your headteacher/ manager knows what you’re planning, and look after your visitor well. l Make sure they are expected at reception, or are met at a station and transported to your venue. l Make sure your visitor is given refreshments. l Never expect an author to supervise a group of children alone. They are not supply teachers and it would contravene your child protection policy. Copyright © ContinYou 2006 l Escort your author throughout the day (unless they ask for some quiet time alone). l Try and get some of the author’s books to sell on the day (on a sale-orreturn basis through a local bookshop or direct from the publishers). Ask the author whether they are happy to sign books. Don’t forget to tell your members to bring money with them. l Encourage the children to read as many of the writer’s books as possible before the visit. Talk about the books with them and look at the author’s website. l Don’t forget to get the members to write or email to say thank you for the visit. Authors love getting letters from their young readers. Twinning with other clubs Find out from your county literacy advisory teachers or library service whether there are other reading clubs in your area. Consider twinning and holding a joint meeting at a community venue, or visit each other’s settings. Keep in touch by email or through a website. Share readers’ comments or challenge each other to quizzes. Find out what activities go down well in their clubs and use them yourselves. Shadowing There are dozens of different children’s book awards – and they are a great way of keeping bang up to date with the best new books each year. The most successful shadowing scheme follows the Carnegie Medal (for fiction) and Kate Greenaway Award (for illustration), which are awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), which is the professional body for librarians. The short list and winners are chosen by children’s librarians, but young people can also choose their unofficial winner by voting on the Carnegie Greenaway website. The website is full of ideas for activities and young readers can post reviews and comments about the shortlisted books. Generally, the fiction on Carnegie short lists is most suited to secondary level. The picture books on the Greenaway list can be enjoyed by a wider age range – older readers will enjoy the chance to read picture books too and you can have very lively discussions about them. Perhaps you could meet up with a club or class of younger children to look at the books. You could organise your own shadowing of any award short list, of course – such as Whitbread, Guardian, Nestlé Smarties, Torchlight or Book Trust’s Teenage Book Prize. Wales’ own children’s book award is the Tir na n’Og Award for the best Welsh and English language books from Wales. It is organised by the Welsh Books Council. Find out whether there are any local book awards you can get involved with – ask your children’s librarian. Most awards have websites – many are listed by the National Literacy Trust at www.literacytrust.org.uk/database/ awards.html. Find the short list, get hold of the books, give them to the readers and then run discussions and activities around them. Hold a final judging session and vote for your winner. When the ‘official’ award is announced, compare this with your results – did your members choose the same books? Local and national book quizzes and competitions There are several book quizzes or competitions for schools in Wales – formats vary but they all aim to get children and young people reading good books. Find out what’s going on locally from your local children’s librarian or Schools Library Service, and whether the club can compete. The Welsh Books Council runs both a Welsh language and an English language book competition annually. Taking part in a competition can help to focus the club’s activities. Involve all the members in the preparation, even if only a few will be in the actual team. Use quiz book lists to help choose good books for the club or school library – the organisers will have chosen carefully. Talks about reading by visitors Invite other staff, older children, parents, governors, librarians or community figures to visit the club and talk about their own reading and the books they enjoy. They could read aloud or bring along books they read as a young person. Older pupils from secondary schools may be able to use such visits for community service credit. They would also be effective role models and give positive messages about reading as a ‘cool’ activity for teenagers. Children’s Book Week The first full week of October is Children’s Book Week in Britain, and many libraries and schools celebrate the week by organising events and activities. Find out whether you can go to meet an author at your local library or whether you can invite an author in to school. Could the club take a lead 16 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 17 and host a party, run competitions, and do special assemblies that week? Summer Reading Challenge The national Summer Reading Challenge in local libraries across the UK makes a proven impact on children’s reading skills and motivation. It emphasises reading for pleasure and bridges the long summer holiday when many children might not otherwise read. The Challenge is free to join, and it encourages children to visit their library regularly over the summer. They are rewarded with certificates and medals to recognise their effort and commitment. Children are free to read whatever library books they want, at any level, in Welsh or English. Listening to audiobooks or being read to also counts. Many librarians visit their local schools and childcare settings during the summer term to promote the scheme, and again in the autumn to present the rewards. They appreciate the support of schools in actively encouraging the children to take part, and particularly in emphasising the benefits of the scheme to parents. Some schools offer their own merit points or rewards to children who take part – this additional incentive is often the key to getting some children involved. This is how we do it… The best sessions are those where the readers just take off into a discussion about books – often unplanned and sparked off by a comment from one of us. We’re very informal – I don’t do much detailed planning (very different to my lesson planning!) because I want to keep the club flexible so that it responds to the members’ passions and enthusiasms. We have members from Year 7 to the sixth form and at least twenty people at every weekly lunchtime session. We meet in the school library and there are usually three members of staff there – a Welsh teacher, and a couple of English teachers. I would prefer to run it as an after-school club, as we wouldn’t be so pressured for time or have competition from other activities, but this is a rural area and most pupils are bussed home. We use the daily bulletin and word of mouth to publicise – the members went round registration classes to tell everyone about the club – and we produce posters and plaster them around school for special events. Some of our best sessions are either when we’ve all read the same book or when we spend the whole lunchtime just reading quietly – the members really enjoy the time out. They love quizzes – I get most of them off the web. We book the IT room occasionally for everyone to take part. We’ve been successful with entering teams to national book quizzes – everyone helps to prepare the team by asking them questions and drilling them! We’ve been on cinema trips to see films of books – and we always have a very lively session the following week to discuss which was best – book or film. We’ve done big second-hand book sales to raise money for Book-Aid and for club funds, and we shadow the Carnegie Medal every year and have great debates and discussion – we’ve yet to agree with the official winner. A local chain bookseller has also sent us proof copies and we’ve written reviews to display in the shop. One summer term we invited local feeder primaries to bring interested Year 6 children up to spend the afternoon with the club as a transition project. We played book games and told them all about the club. We get good support from the school management, but aren’t required to monitor – the fact that the club exists and has a lot of members is proof of its success in getting young people reading and enjoying books. Tips l Don’t try and do it on your own – two or three adults to help is ideal. l Don’t make it too organised or formal – follow the lead of the members. l Be prepared to read lots of books so that you can chat with the members – and never pretend to have read something if you haven’t – you’ll be found out! Secondary English teacher Copyright © ContinYou 2006 Visits How about an outing to see the film of a book, or a trip to the theatre to see a book on stage? You might have an author living locally who writes about your area, or a book may have been given a local setting – visit it to see if you can spot landmarks or soak up the place’s atmosphere. Readathon Take part in the National Readathon fundraising challenge and raise money for good causes while indulging in a favourite pastime! Visit www.readathon.org for details. Games and activities Quizzes Look at author and book websites for quizzes and competitions based on books. Get the members to make up quizzes for the club – use everyone’s knowledge of their favourite books and authors. Save copies of all the questions and answers – they’ll come in useful in future years. Book raffles These are popular and help put more books into children’s hands. Buy discounted books, ask for donations of books in excellent condition or ask publishers for proof copies (perhaps in exchange for some feedback from the readers). Give a free raffle ticket to everyone who attends a session – one lucky ticket wins a book to keep. Run a big raffle for Christmas or World Book Day and invite a visitor in to present the prizes. Get the members to design special ‘book plates’ to stick inside the prize books. Book swap Have a book swap table or box where members can swap books they no longer want. Review of the year At the end of the year, have a session looking back at all the books you’ve been reading over the year. Come up with the club’s own book awards – make up some categories, ask for nominations, then let everyone vote. Find your club’s Surprise of the Year, Flop of the Year, Most Read Book, Best Book Jacket, and Overall Book of the Year. Create a display to exhibit the results. Magazines Use magazines to keep up with the children’s book world. They often have ideas for activities, interviews with authors, and plenty of reviews and news about awards and new initiatives. Books for Keeps and Carousel are aimed at adults, whilst TbK, BOOX, Teen Titles and Bawd are for children and young people. Bookselling Some reading club organisers also run bookselling clubs using one of the commercial schemes such as the Welsh Books Council’s Sbondonics, or those run by Scholastic or the Book People. They give children an opportunity to buy and own books, and can raise funds or provide free books for the club. Using websites There are hundreds of websites related to books for children and young people (see the ‘Useful contacts’ section). Use computers in the school library or ICT room, or at the local library. Look at authors’ and publishers’ own websites. Take part in online forums or discussions, shadowing schemes or quizzes. Harness the power of ICT to promote books and reading. Listen to audiobooks If members bring packed lunches to the club, why not put a CD on and listen as you eat? If some members have difficulties accessing print, have audio versions of books available so that they are included in discussions and activities. Full text audio books are better than abridged versions – some readers may enjoy following the printed text as they listen too. Reading aloud Most people like listening to someone read aloud, giving a taste of a book or reading a whole short story or picture book. How about reading poetry aloud, or reading plays – taking a character each? Invite visitors in to read aloud from some of their favourite books and to talk about their choices. Book charades or drawing This is always popular and needs little preparation. Ask everyone present to write a book title or the name of a character on a slip of paper, put them in a bag or box, and draw one out in turn. Either act out the charade or do a drawing (blindfold or with the paper on your head) to see who can guess correctly. Award points or small prizes (such as sweets or bookmarks). 18 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 19 Wrapped-up reading Wrap up a selection of books in brown paper or gift wrap and let everyone have a lucky dip. Ask everyone to at least taste the book they’ve been given and to try and read it. When you next meet find out what everyone thought of their surprise read. This can often introduce a reader to a genre or author that’s new to them, and encourage them to broaden their reading range. It can also be useful for getting less well-known books borrowed and read. Blind date with a book Here’s an idea for Santes Dwynwen Day. It’s similar to wrapped-up reading, but this time members choose which book to wrap up to give to someone else. Write everyone’s names on a slip of paper. Each member draws one name from a hat and then has to choose a book (from the club or library’s stock) for that person. They wrap the book (perhaps enclosing a heart-shaped card for a reader comment) with the recipient’s name on the outside. At the session, everyone takes the book labelled for them and agrees to try and read it. Next time, find out how they got on with their blind date. Lonely hearts Write a lonely hearts column entry for book characters, or write a character’s letter to a problem page or agony aunt. Read around the world Put up a world map chart and use stickers to mark the settings of books read by the members. Supporting other readers Reading buddies Buddying schemes help to develop reading skills and increase readers’ self-esteem. They change attitudes towards reading and encourage young people to read more widely. Reading buddies are older readers who act as mentors to younger ones. You may be able to pair up buddies from within your club members, if you have a good age spread. If not, ask older readers whether they’d be interested in helping. They may be able to gain credits towards an award or qualification. Mentors should be trained in how to run the buddy sessions and how to promote books to their buddies. Check your child protection policy too, if you are bringing in buddies from another setting or school. Buddying schemes can be useful at transition into secondary school. Would it be possible for the group of mentors to visit the primary school during the summer term to talk to Year 6 pupils about the reading club and how they support it? This is how we do it… The library chairs and tables are moved to one side and cushions are thrown on the floor once a week for a Year 7 lunchtime reading club. Members bring their lunch in with them and we have a social chat while they eat. We then spend about 30 minutes chatting about what we’ve been reading and focusing on a theme – at the moment it’s short stories. We’ve got a good mix of abilities and everyone is encouraged to borrow a book at the end of the session. I sometimes set them challenges for the week – to read a book they would never normally read, or to choose a book recommended by another member. I run the club completely on my own with no support from teachers – but I manage – in fact I really love it. I have no money to spend on the club but we don’t really need any – we use the school library’s stock or I borrow from the Schools Library Service. My aims are to see the members enjoying their reading and feeling confident as readers, and to see them broaden their reading choices – and I think we achieve this. Tips l Target young people who would enjoy and benefit from the club. l Plan your sessions beforehand. l Know what your aims are. Secondary school library assistant Copyright © ContinYou 2006 Planning what to do The Book Year There are many events and special events during the year that focus on books – see the list alongside. Choose a few to concentrate on and plan some activities around them. The adult book prizes might be of interest to older secondary school readers. You could also look at seasonal events such as Santes Dwynwen Day, Holocaust Memorial Day, St David’s Day, the Urdd Eisteddfod, Christmas, Halloween and Bonfire Night. What about any school events or anniversaries? Major international events such as the Olympics or the World Cup would be a chance to run sessions on books set in other countries or books in translation, information books about countries or books with sporting themes. For football ideas, visit Reading the Game at www.literacytrust.org.uk/football/ index.html. January Whitbread Book Award www.whitbread-bookawards.co.uk February National Storytelling Week www.sfs.org.uk March World Book Day (first Thursday) www.cllc.org.uk www.worldbookday.com April Orange Prize for Fiction (adult) www.orangeprize.co.uk May National Share a Story Month www.fcbg.org.uk June Carnegie and Greenaway Awards www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk July/August Summer Reading Challenge in libraries www.readingagency.org.uk October Children’s Book Week (first full week) www.booktrust.org.uk National Poetry Day (first Thursday) www.poetrysociety.org.uk Family Learning Week www.campaign-for-learning.org.uk Black History Month www.black-history-month.co.uk Man Booker Prize (adult) www.bookerprize.co.uk November Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize http://books.guardian.co.uk Blue Peter Book Awards www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/ bluepeter/bookclub/awards/ On pages 21 to 24 you will find activity sheets to use with the ‘Book chatting’, ‘Dear reader…’ and ‘Bookmarking’ activities. 20 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 21 Book chatting Use some of these questions to get your book discussion going. Photocopy the sheet on a piece of card, laminate it and cut it into individual question cards. Was it what you expected from this book? Did your feelings change as you read through the book? Did you start slowly or did you get stuck in straight away? Did someone or something annoy you and stop you from getting started? Why did you choose this book to read? Which character did you react to most strongly? What did you think of the ending? Would you recommend the book to anyone else? With which character would you like to spend time on a desert island? What gave you a fright? Was there one really memorable scene? If you didn’t finish the book, can you explain why it didn’t grab you? How did you feel after you’d finished the book? What sort of reader would enjoy this book? Does the book remind you of any other book or film, or of a personal experience? How should the book have finished? Did you prefer some characters to others? What do you think of the book cover and design? Who was your favourite character? Would you have chosen this book normally? Were parts of the book more readable than others? Which part of the book gave you the most difficulty? Activities Do you re-read books? Do you read outdoors? Are you influenced by whether a book is a prizewinner? Do you read in public? Do you have a favourite chair to read in? Which character would you like to be? What makes you give up on a book before the end? Do you read to learn more about something? What else do you do while you read? Where is the most unusual place you’ve read a book? Has a book ever helped you sort out a problem? Why do you come to a reading club? Have you ever been disappointed by a book? Do you care what other people think about the books you read? Who do you talk to about the books you read? Where do you keep your books at home? Do you prefer long or short books? Do you read for short or long chunks of time? Do you sometimes read to protect yourself or to hide? Do you prefer books written by men or women? Dear reader… Use some of these questions to get everyone talking about themselves as readers. Photocopy this page and the next, laminate them and cut them into individual question cards. Are you looking for something familiar or something new? Do you read the latest hot books to keep up? Do you read to stop feeling bored? Do you get rid of books? 22 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 23 How do you mark where you’ve reached in a book? Do you look at the end before you get there? What’s most likely to annoy you about a book? Can you read while other things are going on around you? Why did you choose the book you’re reading at the moment? Do you have more than one book on the go at the same time? Do you prefer characters that are like you or unlike you? Have you ever had a fright whilst reading? What sort of book do you avoid? Do you always finish a book once you’ve started? Do you stay up late to finish a book? How do you start to read a book? Have you ever lied about what you’re reading? Do you enjoy listening to someone else reading aloud? Do you always read in bed before going to sleep? How do you decide what to read next? Do you cry when you read? Do you read to relax? Can you remember the first book you read? Is there a book you’ve been meaning to read for ages? Dear reader... (more question cards) This is where I stopped to think about my reaction to the first chunk I read. First impressions Expectations Bookmarking Photocopy this sheet and slice it into four bookmarks – giving a set of four to each reader. This is where I really got into the book and knew I’d carry on reading it. What’s hooked me in? Expectations This is where I started to lose interest in the book. Why? Expectations This is the last page I read. Was it worth it? Tip for another reader 24 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 25 To cater for the varying reading tastes, interests and abilities of its members, your reading club will, of course, need access to as wide a range of books and other reading material as possible. Consider the needs of boys and girls because they will differ. Make sure you include: l new contemporary fiction and poetry l modern and traditional classics l picture books (including ones for older readers) l non-fiction and reference books l audio books on CD l books in other formats as necessary (for example, in Braille) l comics, magazines and newspapers. The bulk of your stock will be in Welsh and/or English, but you could also include books in other languages that your members speak. You could run activities based on books in other languages, dual-language books and books in translation. How do we get the books and resources we need? How to choose books Aim for: l a combination of books chosen by knowledgeable adults and books chosen by the members themselves l some key books by the most familiar and recognised writers l a regular infusion of new writers and unusual genres or themes l topical and fashionable books (for example, books of films or TV tie-ins; sport or craze books) – they will do wonders for the club’s street cred! Seek advice from a children’s or school’s librarian. Build up your own book knowledge by reading as much as you can and by looking at book websites and reading children’s book magazines such as Books for Keeps, Carousel, TbK, Teen Titles and Bawd. Involve the members – ask them if there are books they’d like to see. Borrowing l The school’s own library – many secondary school reading clubs are based around school libraries, so you should have a good range of stock readily to hand. l To support the club, your Schools Library Service (SLS) may be willing to lend a general selection of books, or a collection based on whichever theme, author or topic the club is following (access to this service may be limited by your school’s contract with the SLS, or you may not be lucky enough to have an SLS in your area). l Your local public library – ask for a special membership card for the club so that you can borrow more books for longer periods. You could build in regular visits to the library to choose new books into the club’s programme, and help the members develop browsing and choosing skills, and to become familiar with their local library. Borrowing library books and changing them regularly will mean a constant supply of new, good quality and fresh books for your members. Buying l If it isn’t based in a library, the reading club should have its own core permanent collection of key books. This could be the biggest item a new club will have to invest in. Avoid using books from classrooms. l The PTA, or local businesses or community groups may be willing to donate money or pay for a magazine subscription. l Ensure that you get a good discount by buying from a good supplier (your Schools Library Service or local library may be able to help you access their book suppliers). l Clubs that join ContinYou’s Book-It! reading clubs programme will have access to 50 per cent discounts from selected suppliers. Visit www.readingclub.org.uk for details. Donating l To supplement a core stock of good quality library or bought books, you could invite donations of books from the members, parents or the wider community. This may be an effective way of raising the club’s profile within the school community. Copyright © ContinYou 2006 l Emphasise that the books must be in very good condition and should appeal to your members. Donated books will add a personal touch, and you could fix sticky labels signed by the donors inside the covers of the books. l Have a regular book or comic swapping activity, or have a table at club meetings where members can put books they bring from home that they’d like to swap for something different. Weed your collection of donated books and magazines regularly, as they can get very tatty. A few copies in good condition are far more attractive than boxfuls of rubbish. This is how we do it... I’d always wanted to offer a reading club for the keen readers who came into the library, so I set up our Saturday morning club about three years ago. We meet once a month and focus on a different author or theme each time. There are about twelve regulars, aged 8 to 12, and some of our older former members come back to help because they enjoy it so much. We chat about the author of the month, find information on the internet or in books, and discuss the individual books members have read. We write up comments for a display in the library – and we’ve even made our own versions of books with new characters and events. We also write up a report on each meeting for our library service website. I ask the members what they want to read over the coming months, and occasionally I suggest something that another library member has enjoyed. Because of the age span, I try to find authors or themes that have a wide enough range to cover the different abilities and interest levels. Over the year I see the members’ confidence as readers growing – they are much more willing to discuss and to suggest books for the group. Tip l Give your reading club’s activities a profile. Get the members involved in helping to post their reading lists, comments and suggestions for other keen readers on the local library website, or on the school website. Children’s librarian Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 27 How do we tell everyone about the club? Decide who needs to know about the club and what they need to know. Tailor your publicity to suit the audience. l Use your members – they are your most powerful marketing tool. They can show others what the club is achieving and gain support for the club. l Run a poster campaign with an element of mystery when setting up the club. l Put notices in class registers regularly so that colleagues can tell pupils what’s happening at the club. l Use noticeboards and display areas around the school, not just in the place the club meets. l Display notices in places such as the local library, sports centre and community centre. l Produce a newsletter, e-letter or website. l Produce membership badges, cards, caps or T-shirts. l Write press releases for local papers. Keep them short, concise and factual, with all the basic information and a contact name and number for more information. Invite photographers to events, parties and special activities. l Offer to hold a school assembly or to speak about the club at a parents’ evening. l Offer a regular column of readers’ comments from members on different books for the local paper or papur bro. l Contribute articles to the authority’s newsletters and professional press. Remember to acknowledge partners’ and funders’ support. Don’t be modest – tell the world about your achievements. Make sure all parents know about the club – explain its purpose, who’s running it, what it will do, and what happens if it can’t meet. Support from parents is important, especially for a club that meets after school, at weekends or during the holidays. Copyright © ContinYou 2006 Provide a good variety of activities and try to attract a flow of new members. The Reading clubs report research showed that the most common reason for a club’s lack of success (numbers falling and enthusiasm waning) was choosing the wrong activities. Involve the children in planning and evaluating the activities. Keep up with publicity, make sure you get feedback from the members and ask nonmembers what it is that puts them off. If it isn’t working, don’t be afraid to stop, change and start again. Show a good example Set up a staff reading group to demonstrate that adults read for pleasure and share their reading experiences with others. You could read adults’ or young people’s books, or a mix of both. You might want to have wine and nibbles to entice people there. Your local library may be able to lend you sets of books and offer links to other reading groups in the area. Sharing the buzz: guidance for reading groups (Welsh Books Council, 2005) has a lot of useful advice and ideas. Your local library will probably have a copy, or you can view it online at www.cllc.org.uk . Recognise members’ achievement Reward members for their commitment to the club and make them feel special for being readers. Give out membership cards, and certificates for attendance or behaviour. Throw an end-of-term party. Give prizes for quizzes and competitions. Have a club awards ceremony – members could come up with categories (most experimental reader, most surprising reader, most loyal reader and so on). If you have a merit points system, award points for commitment to the club meetings and to reading. Acknowledge individual members if they help with the running of the club. How do we keep it going? This is how we do it… It’s just like an adult reading group – we’ve been reading Small island, Pride and prejudice, and 1984. The members are able pupils from Years 10 and 11 – a small group with more boys than girls. Teachers helped me to target and invite them. We meet up every fortnight for 40 minutes during late lunch and afternoon registration period (I got help from the Deputy Head to release the members). We spend a month on each book – that gives everyone time to read it. We have tea and biscuits, and the members enjoy being treated as special – we’ve even had our photo in the paper! Tips l In any reading club it’s a good idea to find ways to make your members feel special. l If the club is doing something you think the rest of the community might be interested in, contact the local newspaper or radio station. Secondary school library assistant This is how we do it… We wanted to raise the profile of the library within several schools, so I worked with the library assistants to set up Year 7 and 8 reading clubs at lunchtimes or after school. I have a small budget to help pay for books and some author visits; the staffing is voluntary and some teaching staff help out too. The clubs meet every week for a six-week block at a time – we find that’s long enough for the young people to commit to. Most of the time everyone reads the same books (one Welsh title and one English each six weeks), and we include some activities for variety and to encourage the less able readers. Some of the clubs have been on visits to see films of books, too. Tip l To maintain interest, sometimes it’s useful to run a reading club for shorter blocks of time, say twice a year. Schools and children’s librarian 28 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 29 If you persuade volunteers to run the club with help from the members, borrow all the books you need from the Schools Library Service, local library or the school library, and have all your publicity materials designed and produced in house, you may not need any money to run your club! Many very successful clubs have no funding of their own, so don’t let a lack of money put you off setting up a club. However, as you plan your club you will need to be clear on whether you will need specific funding: l Will all your adult staff be voluntary or people who offer in-kind services, or will you need to pay? Ask the headteacher/senior staff for advice and make sure you have management approval on everything relating to staffing and supervision. l If your reading club is not part of a school, make sure that you know what budget or funding you will need and how the club will run. l Will you need to buy some books or magazines for the exclusive use of the club’s members? l Will you need materials to create publicity – paper for internet printouts, for example? What about funding? l Do you want to give goodies to club members – badges, pens, notebooks, T-shirts and so on? l Will you have to pay for your venue if it’s not in school? l Will you want to take club members on visits – will there be any admission charges or transport costs? l Are there any health and safety or insurance issues to consider? l Will you provide refreshments? This may be necessary in an after-school or holiday club. Consider the long-term sustainability of the club – even if you start off with no money, you are likely to need some later on. Ask your headteacher, manager or bursar for advice. Break down all potential costs on paper and make a note of all free and in-kind support. Sources of money If you decide you need to look for funding, there are many potential sources. Within school l School budget l PTA funds l Specific fundraising Within the local authority l LEA initiatives (for example, for gifted and talented pupils, literacy or truancy) – if you link the club to your school’s strategic plans or literacy strategy, would you be able to access some funding? l Library service or arts service targeted funding to support reading or literature initiatives l Children and Young People’s Framework Partnerships l Local councillors (some councillors are allocated small discretionary budgets for local projects, or they can help ‘sponsor’ a bid to a larger fund within the authority – speak to your relevant governors) Local funders l Local grant-making bodies (for example, town councils, charitable trusts, a Rotary Club) – your local Voluntary Services Council may be able to help point you in the right direction l Sponsorship by local business (an approach to a business is often more successful if it is one that is owned by or employs some of your school’s parents) National funding bodies and grantmaking trusts There are many of these, such as the Big Lottery Fund, Awards for All, Paul Hamlyn, RiF, Academi. See the ‘Useful information’ section. You may need to apply to different places for various aspects of the club (staffing, books, consumables) and you may be offered support in kind (time, skills, or goods) rather than cash. Applying for funding l Make sure that you or your organisation is eligible to apply. l Can you use the PTA/PTA’s registered charity status to gain access? As a school you may not be allowed to apply to some sources. Find out whether the PTA can do so on your behalf. l Check that the funders give money for this sort of activity. l Be aware of any deadlines for applications. Bear in mind the time it will take to hear back from the funders. l Keep it simple – don’t say you’re going to do things you’ll never achieve. Copyright © ContinYou 2006 l Bear in mind the aims or needs of the donors and tailor your bid to their criteria. ContinYou Cymru can help you with advice about fundraising. Looking after the money l Keep a record of all your income and expenditure – ask your bursar or administrator for advice on setting up a simple, effective system. l Regularly review your spending against your budget. l Make sure you spend within the remit of your funding. l Make sure you comply with your funders’ requirements for reporting back on how you used the money. This is how we do it… As a school we knew that our pupils’ literacy skills, especially reading skills, were low and that pupils received little support at home to develop their reading skills and enthusiasm. As a special needs teacher, I am particularly aware of this and was keen to offer to do something extra to help. Because I love reading and believe every child should be given the chance to love books too, I offered to run an after-school reading club. We were lucky to get a grant to set up the club – it paid for my time and for books. We targeted pupils from Years 4 and 5. We invited everyone who was interested, and used gentle persuasion on those we thought would benefit most. A room used as a junk room was cleared out and painted and I got some huge floor cushions – I wanted to create a relaxed and informal space that was nothing like a classroom. We bought books – ones that were not connected to classrooms and that were new to the children. We also collected other reading material – holiday brochures, food packaging, magazines and comics. We asked the members what sorts of activities they wanted to do – they often wanted to repeat some activities they’d really enjoyed. We wrote reviews and had visitors in to talk about their reading. One local lady brought in her collection of 4,000 bookmarks – the children were fascinated. The 20p raffle was very popular – children who were not members wanted to buy tickets. Colleagues and parents gave us small prizes for the raffle – usually something to do with reading. At one point we had more members than the football club on the same afternoon – and the footballers even used to come in for a drink and a story after their sessions. We kept in touch with former members who moved up to the secondary school – they were invited to visit the club and became volunteer helpers with responsibilities such as looking after the money or keeping the register. They in turn received special praise from the secondary school headteacher. We took the whole club to visit the secondary school one year – a great transition activity. Another time we had a big club picnic with parents. We saw a huge change in the children’s attitudes towards reading over a year. They were far more interested in buying books at school book fairs, and their reading skills test scores were much higher. They’d discovered a motivation for reading and saw it as much more than something you did in class. Tips l Reluctant readers or those with lower literacy skills are likely to be encouraged to read more if the surroundings in which they do so are inviting and comfortable. l Having a variety of activities, small competitions and visitors to your reading club keeps it stimulating and enticing for readers. l To boost your pool of volunteers, try inviting back older pupils who have been members to help run the club. Primary school teacher 30 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 31 Transition Contrary to the trend that shows a dip in skills on entry into Year 7, motivated and supported reading club members who read regularly for pleasure are more likely to maintain and develop their skills following transition. A reading club can help in the transition from primary to secondary school. A primary club could invite former members who are now in Year 7 or 8 to visit the club to talk about their reading experiences at secondary school. The following school year, those same older readers could befriend a new Year 7 pupil they have met at the reading club visit, and encourage them to attend a reading club at the secondary school. A secondary reading club could welcome Year 6 visitors from local primary schools during the orientation visits in the summer term, for readingbased games and activities. A reading club may be a safe haven for pupils who are finding a new secondary school daunting, or who don’t want to spend their lunchtimes on the playground. They can make new friends and take part in a purposeful activity. Have a look at From primary to secondary – moving on: out-of-school-hours learning and transition, published by ContinYou Cymru. It’s downloadable from www.continyou.org.uk, or you can order it by phone from 029 2047 8929. Gifted and talented Challenging books, vigorous discussion and debate, and the support of enthusiastic adults will give able readers opportunities to develop their skills and interests further. Club activities could be extended for them by introducing more challenging writing tasks and giving them responsibilities within the club. The club must have access to a good range of high-quality books which are suitable for the age range, but which will extend and enrich talented readers (including poetry, adult fiction and books in translation). Community focused schools Working in partnership with services such as libraries, voluntary groups and other schools will contribute towards the community focus agenda of your school. Bring in visitors to the club to talk about their reading or to read to the members, ask volunteers to help with the running of the club, and go on visits to the library or arts centre. Offer to visit other schools to talk about books and reading with peers or younger pupils. Could a cluster of schools run a joint reading club, rotating the venue or using a common central facility such as a local library or community centre to meet? This cluster approach might be particularly suitable for a holiday or Saturday reading club. ContinYou Cymru runs the Supporting Community Focused Schools service in Wales. To find out more, telephone 029 2047 8929. Independent learning skills The skills developed at a reading club, such as choosing what to read, reflecting on their reading, responding to the ideas within a book, and expressing their reaction to what they’ve read, will help your members become lifelong readers and to see themselves as learners. Books constantly challenge a reader’s view of the world, offering new insights and experiences, and demand that the reader grows emotionally and intellectually. How will the reading club contribute to the wider learning agenda? Family learning Involving parents, grandparents and other siblings in the club’s activities will help to develop a culture of literacy within families. Encourage parents to read the books their children are reading, and then to chat about the books together. Get your members to question their parents and grandparents about the books they read as children and about the books they choose to read now. Encourage every family to become members of their local library, and parents to become reading role models for their children. Find out about adult basic skills provision in your area (at a local college, library or adult education centre) and signpost parents who may have difficulties with literacy. Ask your local librarian to bring in a selection of the books available for adult emergent readers to show to parents. The Share programme is a successful programme for schools and LEAs to support parents in their involvement with their children’s learning. To find out more, visit www.continyou.org.uk or telephone 024 7658 8440. Copyright © ContinYou 2006 Curriculum areas Literacy The whole of the reading club’s programme will, of course, contribute greatly to your school’s literacy work – reading, writing, speaking and listening. Make use of the club’s greatest resources – the members and the books – to motivate other pupils to read and see reading as a positive and enjoyable activity, and to create a reading culture within the school. Combine reading with creative writing – invite an author in to hold a writing workshop, create your own stories and poetry and produce them as books for others to read. Or combine reading with drama by encouraging the members to create sketches based on books, to do role plays based on situations from novels, and to take part in national and regional book competitions that involve performing dramatic presentations. Many Welsh authorities run Writing Squads (with Academi support) for talented young writers, who are usually also keen readers. Some of your club members may be Squad members too. Ask them to tell the other members about their Squad workshops and to share their writing. The club could all read books by the Squad tutor author too. Welsh as a second language Have a session looking at a range of Welsh books and magazines – both those written for learners, and those for first language readers. Could a librarian or member of a local Menter Iaith (language enterprise) come in to talk about the books? Show your members that there are attractive, enjoyable books available to read for pleasure outside the classroom. Talk about how Welsh book covers are designed to attract readers. Look at Welsh book websites or email authors. History and geography Spend a few club sessions focusing on books set in a specific historic period or foreign country. For a more challenging activity for older or more able members, read books written in the past or books in translation. Modern foreign languages Try and get hold of comics, picture books and simple books in another language and spend a session reading and sharing them. Get language teaching colleagues involved in the session. Could the members create posters written in the language, or even write simple readers’ comments? ICT Develop members’ ICT skills with web-searching activities to look at book and author websites. Set up a club section on the school’s website, or contribute items to an LEA or library service site. Get the members creating and producing posters and publicity for the club on suitable software. Send readers’ comments and use online chat to shadow book awards. PSE, health and well-being Issues such as bullying, peer pressure, family break-up, sexuality and substance abuse can be explored through reading books with such themes. Run a mock advice session for a character facing an issue, or hold a debate looking at an issue from different characters’ perspectives. Bring in a colleague who has expertise in this area to support the activity. Look at how different books deal with issues such as refugees, war, criminality or disability. How do the young readers respond to the characters and their situations? How does reading fiction about a subject differ from reading non-fiction or searching the internet? Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 33 Schools ETC Schools ETC (Extending to Communities) is a new magazine for those who work in and with schools to bring about more coherent services for children and families or to support learning beyond the classroom. This magazine shares good practice, ideas and practical advice on how to improve outcomes through community/extended services. As schools explore new ways of delivering the seven core aims of ‘Children and Young People – Rights to Action’ (WAG, 2005), Schools ETC will be a vehicle through which readers can share success, voice disagreements and concerns, tell their stories and help to inspire others. It covers: l parenting support and family learning l out-of-school-hours/study support learning activities l partnerships for on- and off-site, ‘wraparound’ childcare l closer links with specialist support services, such as health and social care, with practical examples of how schools are building these links l community access to ICT, sports and arts facilities, and adult learning. The low-cost subscription provides: l a quarterly, full-colour magazine l practical advice sheets (on issues such as re-shaping the school day, targeting for inclusion, young people’s voice, auditing and evaluating community provision, effective partnerships, whole-school programmes, and so on) l free membership (among other offers) of Book-it! (ContinYou’s reading club network) l exclusive access to a subscribers’ award l discounts on ContinYou events and conferences l an e-newsletter for community focused schools l invitations to regional networking events. To find out more, visit www.continyou.org.uk. There is an additional discount for LEAs taking block membership in 2006. Useful information Books and reading: information and support ContinYou’s Book-it! Programme www.readingclub.org.uk The Book-It! programme is a free online resource from ContinYou for everyone subscribing to Schools ETC. There is a small fee for others wishing to join. Book-it! provides a website with a range of resources to support reading for pleasure, plus a regular e-newsletter. On the website you will find: l a range of practical tools to help with running a reading club – examples of activities and activity sheets, evaluation tools, links to free resources l book reviews l advice on how and where to look for funding for book clubs l exclusive discounts from publishers l illustrative examples of popular clubs and activities l information about training and professional development opportunities l copies of the e-newsletter and back issues. To take advantage of the Book-it! resource, subscribers to Schools ETC should email subscriptions@continyou. org.uk or call 020 8709 9904 to request an online password. Welsh Books Council www.cllc.org.uk Tel: 01970 624151 Supports Welsh and English language book trade and publishing in Wales. Its children’s book department runs projects and activities across Wales, such as national book competitions, termly book information packs to all schools, bookselling van visits and school book-buying clubs, Sbondonics and Sbri-di-ri. The Council co-ordinates World Book Day in Wales and the Tir na n-Og prize for children’s books from Wales. Welsh author information sheets are available on the Kids Online section of the website. National Literacy Trust www.literacytrust.org.uk An independent charity dedicated to building a literate nation and raising literacy standards for all age groups throughout the UK. The Trust runs major initiatives such as the National Reading Campaign, Reading Connects, Reading Champions, and Reading the Game. Copyright © ContinYou 2006 National Reading Campaign www.readon.org.uk Aims to ensure that as many people as possible enjoy the pleasures and benefits that reading can bring. The Campaign is delivered by the National Literacy Trust and focuses on two initiatives: Reading Connects and Reading Champions. Reading Connects www.readingconnects.org.uk A DfES-funded initiative that supports schools in building their own reading culture. Reading Connects offers useful resources, tried and tested ideas, case studies, advice and funding information. There is a downloadable guide: Creating a reading culture handbook. Reading Champions www.literacytrust.org.uk/campaign/ champions/index.html Reading Champions harnesses the motivating power of reading role models to inspire other men and boys to take up the reading habit. Champions come from the sports and TV world as well as schools and the community. Book Trust www.booktrusted.com A website that aims to help teachers, librarians and parents find out about books for children and young people. It offers news and information, and access to authors’ contact details. The Reading Agency www.readingagency.org.uk A charity working to improve the reading experience by inspiring, challenging and supporting libraries. The Agency runs the Chatterbooks network of children’s reading groups in local libraries and co-ordinates the national Summer Reading Challenge. Federation of Children’s Book Groups www.btinternet.com/~martin.kromer/ index.htm Tel: 0113 258 8910 A national voluntary organisation that aims to promote enjoyment and interest in children’s books and reading. The Federation liaises with schools, playgroups, libraries and publishers. It acts as a link between children’s book groups across the UK, organises the Red House Children’s Book Award, promotes National Share-a-Story Month (May) and holds a national conference. It also offers advice, support and information to groups. National Centre for Language and Literacy www.ncll.reading.ac.uk The Centre offers an independent voice, responding flexibly to teachers’ needs, and supports teachers, parents and governors through a collection of resources, publications, courses and conferences and research. Its website has a searchable database of authors who will visit schools. School Library Association www.sla.org.uk The SLA supports the development of school libraries across the UK. CILIP www.cilip.org.uk The professional body for librarians and information professionals, which awards the prestigious annual Carnegie Medal and Kate Greenaway Award for children’s books. Bookmark: books and disability issues www.bookmark.org.uk Bookmark offers advice, information and signposting on reading difficulties, learning disabilities and books which are relevant to different impairment and disability issues. It is run by Booktrust. National Library for the Blind www.nlb-online.org Access to all the services for readers with a visual impairment. It plans to merge soon with the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) to provide one national Braille and audio library service for visually impaired readers. Fiction Café www.fiction-cafe.nlb-online.org The NLB’s special books and reading website for visually impaired young people. Royal National Institute for the Blind www.rnib.org.uk Offers details of the subscription-based Talking Books Service, which includes children’s books, good practice guidelines on creating accessible resources and a section on Wales with contact details for Welsh language resources. Clearvision www.clearvisionproject.org This is a postal lending library of mainstream children’s books with added Braille, ideal for sharing with friends and family. Membership is free to families and there is a low subscription for schools and libraries. 34 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 35 Speaking of Books Jan Powling, Speaking of Books, 9 Guildford Grove, Greenwich, London SE10 8YJ Tel/Fax: 020 692 4704 This agency offers access to leading writers, illustrators and storytellers to work in schools. Ideas for activities Carnegie Greenaway Shadowing www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk The website for the most prestigious children’s book prizes in the UK. It details longlists and shortlists and offers an interactive section for young readers to post reviews and comments on the books. Cool reads www.cool-reads.co.uk A book reviewing website by young people for young people. Plenty of suggestions here for books to read and good examples of writing about books. Blue Peter Book Club www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/ bookclub News, special offers, reviews and star stories, and details of the Blue Peter Book Awards. Reading the Game www.readingthegame.org.uk A National Literacy Trust initiative which works with professional football to promote literacy and to raise reading motivation for all ages – good ideas for harnessing the power of football’s popularity in order to promote reading. Reading Is Fundamental UK (RIF) www.rif.org.uk As well as offering funding for projects, the RIF website has useful information, and activity sheets to download from the resources section. Readathon www.readathon.org A national, sponsored reading scheme, often used by schools during Children’s Book Week, although it operates all year round. Children undertake to read books or take part in other literacybased activities of their choice in return for pledges of money from family and friends. All money raised is donated to the Roald Dahl Foundation and Sargent Cancer Care for Children. My Home Library www.myhomelibrary.org Author Anne Fine’s website to encourage children to build up their own home libraries. Free downloadable bookplates donated by top illustrators and ideas on how to acquire books (especially from charity shops). Seven Stories: the Centre for Children’s Books www.sevenstories.org.uk Tel: 0845 271 0777 The new Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, which actively collects original artwork and manuscripts by British writers and illustrators for children. The Centre hosts exhibitions and educational programmes. Stories from the web www.storiesfromtheweb.org Interactive story-based website with a section for under 8s, 8 to 11 and 11+, with activities and games, book and author information, and opportunities to submit creative writing. Achuka www.achuka.co.uk/index2.html An independent site of news and reviews of books for children and young people. Authors Many children’s writers and illustrators have their own websites, or have pages on their publishers’ websites. Just type their names into a search engine and you can find information about writers’ books, their life stories, and often games and activities. Many authors also invite readers to respond to their books or to send questions. Most sites will also explain how to contact authors to arrange school visits. www.ukchildrensbooks.co.uk lists over 200 English language authors’ websites. www.ncll.reading.ac.uk also has a searchable database of authors and illustrators willing to visit schools and libraries. The website of the Welsh Books Council (Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru) www.cllc.org.uk has downloadable information sheets on authors from Wales. Academi’s site www.academi.org – gives contact details for writers from Wales. Copyright © ContinYou 2006 Funding ContinYou www.continyou.org.uk A downloadable guide, Fundraising guidance for study support/out-of-schoolhours learning, published in March 2005, covers everything from planning your activities to corporate sponsorship, and includes fundraising from grantmaking trusts, as well as useful contacts. Big Lottery Fund www.biglotteryfund.org.uk Wales office Tel: 01686 611700 There are two Big Lottery Fund programmes specific to Wales. People and Places aims to bring people together to make their communities stronger; it is open to community, voluntary and public sector organisations, giving grants between £5,000 and £1million. Young People’s Fund Wales focuses on young people aged 10 to 19; its ‘Make it happen’ strand will fund projects planned by young people and gives grants between £500 and £5,000. Awards for All www.awardsforall.org.uk/cymraeg/ wales/ Tel: 0845 600 2040 A grants programme set up to help small groups and strengthen communities, supported by the Big Lottery Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Awards grants between £500 and £5,000. Roald Dahl Foundation www.roalddahlfoundation.org Supports literacy projects with grants for out-of-school projects. It welcomes applications from charities throughout the UK for work with children with poor literacy skills and to support young people with visual impairments or head injuries to access the written word. Worth considering if your PTA is a registered charity. Academi www.academi.org Tel: 029 2047 2266 This is the literature promotion agency for Wales. Its Writers on Tour scheme will part-fund visits by authors, poets and storytellers. Apply by contacting Academi at least one month before the event. It will also fund larger-scale literature projects. Its website lists contact details of writers and storytellers based in Wales. Paul Hamlyn Foundation www.phf.org.uk Supports arts and education initiatives for young people within and out of school, particularly if these break new ground or are risky. Current priorities include improving access to books and reading. Awards up to £5,000 are made to local schemes for one year. Reading Is Fundamental UK (RIF) www.rif.org.uk Tel: 020 7828 2435 An initiative of the National Literacy Trust to help children realise their potential by motivating them to read. RIF projects provide activities and free books for children to choose and keep. Any non-profit group may apply to start up an RIF project and priority is given to those who have already managed to raise some funds. Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust www.milleniumstadium.com/ 3473_3540.php Tel: 029 2049 4963 This Trust raises its funds from a levy on every ticket sold for events at the stadium. It aims to promote education, history, language, culture, music and folklore, especially for those who face discrimination or disadvantage. It will give grants to not-for-profit organisations and charities – up to £2,000 for local projects. Download full guidelines from the website. Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 37 Children’s books and magazines Books for keeps Bi-monthly magazine aimed at teachers and librarians. It offers reviews, news, articles, and author profiles. Contact: 6 Brightfield Road, Lee, London SE12 8QF Tel: 020 8852 4953 www.booksforkeeps.co.uk email: booksforkeeps@btinternet.com Carousel Termly books magazine aimed at parents and teachers. It offers short articles, reviews and news. Contact: Carousel, The Saturn Centre, 54–76 Bissell Street, Birmingham B5 7HX Tel: 0121 622 7458 www.carouselguide.co.uk . TbK A colourful magazine aimed at 7 to 12 year olds, with extracts of new books, information about authors, activities and competitions. Contact: Peters Library Service, 120 Bromsgrove Street, Birmingham B5 6RL Tel: 0121 666 6646 www.peters-books.co.uk Bawd An annual Welsh language books magazine for Key Stage 3 written by young people, with articles, news and reviews. Published by Gwynedd Library Service. Contact: Nia Gruffydd NiaGruffydd@gwynedd.gov.uk 01286 679465 BOOX Books magazine for teenagers by teenagers www.boox.org.uk Contact: The Reading Agency www.readingagency.org.uk Teen Titles Termly book review magazine for teenagers. Contact: Jackie Henrie, Publications Manager, City of Edinburgh Council Education Department, 10 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh EH1 3EG Tel: 0131 469 3331 jackie.henrie@educ.edin.gov.uk Bibliography Creating a reading culture handbook Published by Reading Connects/DFES. Download from www.readingconnects.org.uk Reading clubs report Published by Education Extra, 2003. Download from www.continyou.org.uk Sharing the buzz: guidelines for reading groups Written by Bethan M Hughes and published by the Welsh Books Council in 2005. Copies are available at local libraries in Wales or to download from www.cllc.org.uk . Reading for change Report on research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), published 2001. Download from www1.oecd.org/ publications/e-book/ 9602071E.pdf ContinYou thanks the following people for their help with This is how we do it: l Eileen Jones, Denbighshire LEA l Frances Jones, NE Wales Schools Library Service l Ros Harding, Ysgol Bryn Alyn, Gwersyllt l Sarah Barker, Ysgol Dinas Brân, Llangollen l Julie Danson, Ysgol Brynhyfryd, Ruthin l Llinos Hughes & Sue Tame, Ysgol Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd l Edwina Crump, Ysgol Parch Thomas Ellis, Holyhead l Nia Gruffydd, Gwynedd Library Service l Alison Shepherd, Cefn Mawr Library l Beverley Owen, Prestatyn Library. Some of the ideas for activities first appeared in The reading group toolbox by Rachel Van Riel and Olive Fowler (Opening the Book, 1999); and Sharing the buzz: guidelines for reading groups by Bethan M Hughes (Welsh Books Council, 2005). Written by Bethan M Hughes Editing: Paddy O’Dea, ContinYou Welsh translation: Alwyn Selway Desktop publishing: Christine Knight, ContinYou Design and layout: Paul Mepham, ContinYou Advisers: Pam Boyd and Brian Hubble, ContinYou Acknowledgements Copyright © ContinYou 2006