Cheswardine Primary School & Nursery is a small school that clearly demonstrates it’s enthusiasm for reading for pleasure throughout the curriculum.

The Lead teacher and SENDco is passionate about providing opportunities for all pupils to read a wide range of books. The English planning throughout the school reflects this and the Lead teacher works with staff to provide a rich English curriculum.

The school has engaged with the Bookfest’s Big Book Award and Picture Book Award projects for a few years now. The pupils have developed their love of reading by taking part in the art, drama and letter writing competitions linked to the awards. They have enjoyed contacting authors. Year 5 and Year 6 children were keen to express their thoughts about the longlist titles they were currently reading. They were able to compare the current books with past Book Award titles that were available in the class library.

The cupboard in the younger class is transformed into a reading area each day with book boxes clearly labelled for books with the same genres.

The class libraries are well stocked with a range of up to date titles of all genres. The Lead teacher regularly updates the class libraries and removes any books that are out of date or deteriorating. These are taken to the village of Cheswardine’s old phone box for villagers to enjoy.

The school is a member of the Shropshire Gold Service scheme and the teachers personally choose books from there to top up the class books. They ensure that classes can access both diverse books and books for pupils with SEND. The school have also formed a good link with the local library in Market Drayton. Librarians regularly visit the school and run reading initiatives for the pupils. Pupils from Year 5 and 6 team up with the younger pupils to visit the library and help choose books.

The Lead teacher has also engaged with the PTA and the wider village community groups to secure funding to enhance the term’s project on Harry Potter books with a visit to Harry Potter World.

Through connecting with the village book group the school now has it’s own adult reading mentor for each class. They also have Angus, a therapy dog, who allows pupils with SEMH needs to read in a calm and nurturing environment.

Class displays are lively and inspiring. The pupils add to the displays and add their own comments about the books they are reading. The writing reflects a range of genres. The corridors and cloakrooms show a display of books and related art work.

The school is able to share with parents, and visitors,  the school website activities linked to Bookfest.

A demonstration for parents to listen to a child read and ask the right questions is shown on a video link on the website.

Further, the school was inspected by Ofsted in October 2023 and was awarded a ‘Good’ rating with the Ofsted inspector Chris Wright saying “Leaders prioritise pupils’ personal development. Despite being a small, rural school, staff work hard to ensure that pupils get meaningful opportunities to deepen their learning and to try new things.” Click here to see the full report in the Shropshire Star.

Danielle Battams, teacher at Cheswardine Primary & Nursery School, was presented with the award at Shropshire Bookfest’s ‘The Sound of Reading’ conference at the University Centre Shrewsbury on 15th November 2023.

Bookfest has ignited a passion for literature among our school children by providing them with direct access to renowned authors and illustrators. These interactions go beyond the pages of a book, creating a tangible connection between the creators and their audience.

The positive impact of Shropshire Bookfest on school children is nothing short of transformative. It kindles the flame of curiosity, broadens perspectives, enhances literacy skills and fosters a sense of community. You get to work alongside some of the most passionate and helpful school co-ordinators and volunteers from Bookfest who are always on hand to help in any way they can and inspire children whilst doing so.

One of our year 4 children with SEND wrote a book last year for the Readers to Writers initiative and he enjoyed doing that so much that he writes books for pleasure in school and at home!

“Bookfest has introduced me to lots of new books and authors and has encouraged me to read a lot more.”

“Bookfest has inspired me to write more books myself outside of school.”

“I didn’t think I was good at writing, but I came third in the writing competition!”

“The author workshop showed me how to write engaging and now I want to be an author.”

“We didn’t have Bookfest at my old school but now that I have taken part I absolutely love it, it is so cool that the children have so much power!”

“Before Bookfest started, I wasn’t confident in my writing, but now I love writing!”

“Bookfest has shown me how reading can make me a better writer!”

Danielle Battams – Cheswardine Primary & Nursery School