Take 10
Read Manchester will launch Take 10 on Wednesday 10 October (10/10), World Mental Health Day. The initiative aims to inspire the whole city to read for 10 minutes every day, which has proven benefits for mental health and relaxation. We have a range of events taking place on 10/10, but we want to encourage a regular reading habit, so that reading for pleasure happens every day. Therefore Take 10 will run throughout the whole school year.
Read Manchester has been working in partnership with the Writing Squad and the Manchester Literature Festival; three schools (St Paul’s High, Trinity and MCA) are working with young writers from the Writing Squad to produce their own work on the theme of Take 10. Students will then perform their work at an event at Central Library on 10/10, as part of the Manchester Literature Festival. Other launch events include a storytelling and gifting session with parents at St Clement’s Children’s’ Centre and the launch of the Shelf Help scheme at Loreto High - see below.
We've prepared Take 10 ideas for schools which you can download below.
Manchester Airport's literacy initiatives for schools
Manchester Airport is supporting Read Manchester with with a reading challenge and writing competition for children. The airport has also published a special book, Reach for the Sky, to mark its 80th birthday.
Download a brochure with more information.
Literacy and children’s wellbeing
The National Literacy Trust has just launched new research around children’s mental wellbeing and the links to reading and writing. Children who are most engaged with reading and writing, and enjoy it, have higher levels of mental wellbeing than children who don’t. The National Literacy Trust and children’s mental health charity Place2Be have also produced teachers’ notes and PowerPoints for primary and secondary assemblies, as well as booklists, focusing on wellbeing and reading. Find out more and download the resources.
Shelf Help
Shelf Help is a collection of fiction and non-fiction books that have been chosen by young people and health experts to support young people with their health and mental wellbeing. This also forms part of our Take 10 initiative. A training day on mental health awareness around young people was held for participating schools, and Read Manchester has purchased book collections and resources for these schools:
- Loreto High
- Manchester Health Academy
- Whalley Range
- Cedar Mount
- Co-op Academy
- Newall Green
- Parrs Wood
- The Manchester College
- East Manchester Academy (collection in the public library)
- Abraham Moss High School
The pilot will be fully evaluated to see if it can be rolled out to further schools if successful.