Teach Primary Issue 18.2

Rachel Sligo explains how a new ‘Story Centre’ at Pegswood Primary is transforming attitudes to reading across the whole school community D uring the pandemic, our school library became a dead space; unused, full of out-of-date books and in need of bringing in line with our pupils’ current interests and experiences. As a teacher with a love of literacy and reading, I knew there must be something we could do to create a better space. Somewhere children would not only feel comfortable engaging with books, but where those who weren’t confident with reading wouldn’t feel out of place. With support from the whole school and our wider community, including the North of Tyne Combined Authority, who helped fund this project, our Story Centre is now so much more than a library. Transformation When looking at the space, it was clear it would be hard to get children and parents into the library. As a result of Covid-19, we were seeing less parental engagement, and many students simply didn’t have the confidence to pick up a book on their own. In our local area, we have brilliant libraries, but even with access to these, only 19 per cent of our KS2 students visit libraries outside of school. So, to turn the library into a warm and inviting space, we completely remodelled the room. We began by exploring the options available to help fund the project. As a participant in the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Leading Literacy (provided by the Three Rivers Teaching School Hub), I was able to apply to the North of Tyne Combined Authority for support. We were delighted when our application was accepted. We received £5,000 to support disadvantaged pupils and those disproportionately affected by the pandemic, which helped us with the costs greatly. To ensure we didn’t disrupt the school, we worked over May half-term and the summer holidays, and we recruited help from friends and family to keep costs down. Come September, the new space had been created, our idea had come to fruition, and our old school library was now the Story Centre. What is the Story Centre? We’ve just come to the end of an incredible first term with the Story Centre fully up and running, and the activities and its impact so far have been wonderful. It’s a comfortable space where students can be loud if they want to We have tried to make it feel very different from a traditional library: providing a hub to engage families with every aspect of storytelling, not just reading. The area is filled with visual displays. There are seating areas and cushions where we can chat about books, and enjoy and engage with stories together. We built the space to be accessible to everyone. Children who are less confident with reading can still feel comfortable here, engaging with books through bookmark making or listening to storytelling. Getting learners interested in books slowly, and through avenues that suit them, is just as important as reading. We also wanted to ensure that the space is inclusive to all types of learning. Some students with SEND can struggle to sit still and be quiet, so curating a space where both quiet reading and The place TO BE After After Before “Children who are less confident with reading can still feel comfortable here” 40 | www.teachwire.net