Pupils from S1 to S4 recently took part in our annual “guess the language” competition which involved staff from all over the school  wearing a badge with a word in a foreign language and pupils collecting/ recording these words and also guessing what the language was.

Congratulations to Emily in S4 who took first place. Special mention to Wareeshah & Holly in S1 who took 2nd place and Maisie and Leah (also in S1) who came in 3rd. Well done to all pupils who took part.

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Thank you to Chris Wilson and NLC Libraries for this advert about Motherwell Library, how our families can join the library and the available services.  

A huge part of our Braidhurst Reading School work is to encourage our entire school community to read. Feedback from our family surveys revealed that information on our local libraries would support this aim. N.B opening times are 10am-4pm.

Another Reading Schools initiative, organised by our group of pupil literacy ambassadors, is a calendar of literacy themed celebrations which we are running throughout the school year. This month featured World Kindness Day and staff and pupils were asked to recommend their favourite book as an act of kindness to others. A huge thank you to the staff and literacy ambassadors for taking part. Pictured are some of our brilliant literacy ambassadors with their book recommendation which are now displayed on the library bookshelves to help others pick their next book.

On Tuesday 15^th November the reading schools team welcomed friend of the school, author Alex Nye, into the school library to deliver an author workshop to a group of S1 pupils. Alex’s children’s books are all set in Scotland and they brilliantly incorporate Scottish history and ghost stories into their plots. The S1 pupils listened attentively as Alex spoke of her work and read excerpts aloud to them. The session ended with a quick Q&A which was especially useful for the budding writers in the audience. This fully funded session from the Scottish Book Trust is part of the school’s ongoing efforts to secure reading schools accreditation next year. Thank you to Alex Nye, the Scottish Book Trust and our fantastic S1 pupils.

A few of our S6 peer mentors recently gathered in the library to receive their peer mentor badges, which they are wearing on their school blazer.  The mentors are working really hard to offer paired reading support to a selection of S1 pupils, in their free periods.  The pupils meet once a week to read aloud together, to discuss stories and reading for pleasure. Well done to our S6 pupils on volunteering for this worthwhile initiative which is part of the school’s ongoing Reading Schools accreditation process.

Throughout the term, Braidhurst are welcoming each of our local primary school P7 classes into the library for a special transition visit, which explore why pupils should read for pleasure. The visits form part of our ongoing work towards Reading Schools accreditation, which we hope to achieve next summer. During their visits, pupils are asked to reflect on the importance of personal reading and the positive effects it can have on their educational attainment and health and wellbeing. Each P7 class will be tasked with creating a short advert (either a short film or podcast) which outlines why everyone should read. The visits are supported by the Reading Schools staff committee, and trio of S1 Literacy Ambassadors. The project began with Logans Primary School on Friday 8^th October and will run through to mid-November with visits from Muir Street Primary School and Ladywell Primary School.