SJHS Reading Newsletter Term 1 24-25

This term,  primary classes have introduced a new monthly certificate called “Remarkable Reader.” This award recognizes students who have demonstrated exceptional progress in their reading. We are delighted to announce our first batch of Remarkable Readers, and we congratulate them on their achievement.

To further encourage a love of reading, we are inviting all students, from early years and primary to secondary,  to participate in our “Remarkable Place” reading challenge. We would love to see photos of your children reading in a unique or interesting location. The most remarkable picture from each class will be awarded a special prize.

Please feel free to share your photos with your child’s teacher or school library assistant, Claire – claire.smith3@shetland.gov.uk

#Take10ToRead at Sandwick Junior High School

Reading for pleasure is known to help relax, unwind and boost mood, reduce stress levels, improve concentration and memory.  That’s why, on Thursday 10^th October at 10am, the National Literacy Trust were calling on the nation to #Take10ToRead in support of World Mental Health Day.

At Sandwick Junior High School, we asked that all staff and classes from the early years department to secondary 4 all stop what they were doing at 10am on Thursday 10^th October and take just 10 minutes to read for their own enjoyment.  It didn’t need to be a book, it could be a game match report, newspaper, magazine, recipes, anything that interests the pupils and staff.

Last week, I read Grey by Laura Dockrill & Lauren Child with P1/2, P3/4 and P5/6 and gave them different activities to do afterwards.

I encouraged P1/2  to think about things that made them feel “grey” and what would make them feel “colourful”.  Some reasons for feeling grey were: being told no, hurting themselves, being alone, getting shouted at and when it’s raining.

Things that made them feel colourful: going on holiday, playing with friends, playing on the swings, football, being with family and sunny days.

P3/4 were tasked with thinking about how they were feeling today and putting that feeling into a colour.  We had a lot of blue, tired P3/4s on this day. Many associated red with love and safe, blue with tired and sad, green and yellow with happy and excited.

P5/6 had the job of coming up with names for colours, they had free choice of what word they could use to describe the colours.  It was very interesting to see the words picked, some matched the first letter of the colour and other were just describing the colour and how it made them feel.

Pumpkin orange, rose red, perfect purple, blue blueberry, grey moon, black night, mud brown, yummy yellow, purple monster under my bed and boring blue.

We have restarted our Reading Buddy sessions.  A small group of P6/7 and P1/2  pupils meet on a rotational basis on Tuesday mornings.  They choose books together, read and discuss what they liked or didn’t like about the story.  Last year, it was wonderful to watch the confidence in both age groups of pupils grow and their friendships transfer into the playground, so I am looking forward for the same this year.

Welcome to the new blog for the Sandwick junior high school library.  I will be regularly posting updates on what activities are happening in the library and how the library supports pupils and the school.

Claire