Reading Latest News- 

2026 is the National Year of Reading!

Here, at St George’s Primary, we are very proud to support The National Year of Reading promoted by The National Literacy Trust. Throughout the year, we are holding monthly activities to promote and celebrate reading with our school community, families and the wider community. Please join us for an amazing year of reading! A little reading can go a long way. It can connect us to others, spark curiosity, boost our self-esteem and support our mental health.

We would like to invite you to join your child’s class for story time on:

Monday 19/10/26

Monday 7/12/26

Monday 8/2/27

Monday 15/3/27

Monday 24/5/27

Monday 12/7/27

Here’s to a great year of reading! Let’s GO ALL IN! Happy reading! 

We launched The National Year of Reading this January with a fun book tasting café in our library area. Tables were set with new genres for the pupils to taste and have a try. The juniors have designed posters to promote the year of reading with positive messages. In February, we followed this by inviting parents in for National Storytelling week. During this week, the pupils also read to each other and told stories. In March, we reached out into the community and went to the library to look at their non-fiction books on World Book Day. We dressed up as something we would love to read more about and 'GO ALL IN'. In April, we enjoyed reading and judging the Carnegie Illustration Award. May found us passing round a mystery read among the class, so if a big brown envelope covered in question marks arrives at your house, keep the book a secret from the rest of the class please! June featured us all coming together on a Wednesday for a whole-school story time. In this, we share a story from around the world and the pupils recommend books to each other in 'Book Wars'. July was the month in which we promoted the Summer Reading Challenge 'Read to the Beat', to encourage everyone to keep reading for pleasure over the holiday. In the lead up to Christmas, we are looking forward to National Poetry Day, in which the teachers are going to read their favourite poems to the whole school and we will read and write poems in class. In September, each class will be appointed some 'Reader Leaders' who will help to run a cosy winter reading day later in the year. 

Our School Library- The Heart of St. George's

Our library is well-stocked and well-loved. It supports our lessons and reading for pleasure throughout the whole school. 

Our aim is to have a unified approach across the school in the provision and maintenance of book collections in the main library and classroom collections. 

The purpose of the Library:

• To provide children with a stimulating and inviting, yet relaxing environment, in which they feel comfortable selecting texts and learning materials of their choice.
• To provide a core collection of non-fiction books for teacher reference.
• To provide core collections for children to learn information skills, such as using books effectively for research.
• To provide fiction suitable for the entire age and ability range, to include series by well-known authors, joke books, books for reluctant and advanced readers, dual language books etc.
• To provide opportunities for children to read for pleasure.
• To teach children how to use, handle and respect books, and to use with confidence the library system independently and efficiently.
• To promote libraries as places which provide enjoyable and exciting activities.
• To provide opportunities for children and their families to take part in literacy-related activities, such as story time.

Accommodation:

• The main library is situated at the centre of the school in an area that is situated between KS1 and KS2, and includes an outdoor courtyard reading area.
• The library is utilised on a daily basis by whole-class visits. TAs support groups of children, and open-library times staffed by volunteers during lunchtime.
• The layout of the library ensures that it is accessible to all children and adults within the school, including wheelchair users.
• The library provides an authentic ‘Library Experience’ through the organisation of the fiction books in alphabetical order by author’s surname combined with a colour-coded system for the non-fiction books.
• In addition to the main library, there is a selection of reading materials in each classroom. These books are selected from the stock in the library to reflect the current topics and interests of the class, and are changed regularly.
• Posters give children further support in using the library independently.
• Children’s learning is also displayed in the library.

Community links:

• The staff will work together to arrange fun events to promote a love of reading and its importance in lifelong learning.
• Links with New Mills Library are promoted with good success, such as can be seen by the summer reading programme run by Derbyshire Libraries.

What a fabulous author visit from Philip Kavvadias! 

On Friday 16^th May 2025 we were visited by Philip Kavvadias, award-winning author of MISSION MICRORAPTOR and MISSION MANTA RAY. He led and exciting and interactive session with the students from Year 1 to Year 6 during which they discussed how to get ideas for books and then they helped him to plan new ideas for his next book. We were incredibly proud of how well all students listened and the confidence with which they asked questions and shared ideas. Philip writes books that he hopes will encourage boys to read so please see the links on the letter below if you would like to order a copy or leave a review. 

Following our work on what an author does, with our author visit from Philip Kavvadias, we then focused on the work of the illustrator. Each class will experienced the Carnegie Award shortlist and discussed how illustration impacts a story. Voting followed as each class voted for the book that they think should win. The overall winner in school was Clever Crow, which actually won the competition!