The school library at one Cardiff primary has received a major boost.
St Paul’s Church in Wales Primary School has been presented with £500 to spend on books as part of Cardiff Council’s Reading Power campaign to drive up literacy standards across the city.
The Grangetown school earned the reward for being the school with the highest attendance at the Reading Power Roadshows last month. The roadshows were held at Channel View Leisure Centre in Grangetown, Eastern Leisure Centre in Rumney and Dusty Forge in Ely to encourage and support parents and carers to spend time reading with their children.
Hundreds of families attended the roadshows, where literacy specialists from Cardiff Council were on hand to provide advice, resources and support, with St Paul’s pupils coming out on top for attendance with their parents.
The prize was presented at the school assembly this week while the secondary school with the highest attendance at the roadshows, Llanrumney High, has already received £50 worth of books for their library.
The Reading Power campaign was launched last autumn and is fronted by the Power Readers, a duo of reading superheroes who encourage parents to give their children the power to read because ‘Knowledge is Power’.
A website provides parents with information on how they can help their children, containing tips and advice as well as recommending books and links to other websites that promote reading as an enjoyable pastime, as well as an essential skill.
Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway said: “Congratulations to everyone at St Paul’s Primary on this fantastic prize which will enable the school to buy many more books for the children to learn and enjoy. It was great to see so many families attending the Reading Power roadshows and taking a strong interest in their children’s learning.
“It’s very important the Council, schools and parents all work together on this, in a bid to drive up standards and ensure every child is equipped with the basic skills to succeed in their education.”
St Paul’s headteacher, Susan Jones, said: “A big thank you to all our parents who have been a great support helping us to raise standards of achievement in reading with their children. The money will be put to good use as we intend to restock our class libraries with some exciting new reading material requested by the children.”
