A primary school has won a £15,000 makeover for its library as part of an initiative to improve pupils’ literacy.
Sandal Primary school in Baildon, Bradford, won a competition run by the Bradford Literacy Campaign and partners, the School Library Association and furniture company BookSpace, who are designing and funding the renovation. Construction work is due to start in the school summer holidays and the new reading space is expected to open to pupils during the autumn term.
Sandal Primary School’s vision is to create a nurturing environment to enable every child to fulfil their potential. In their competition entry, they wrote that their current library space is inflexible, doesn’t allow for quiet reading and cannot be accessed by parents with their children. The school impressed the judges with their exciting ideas for the larger and brighter location for their new library which will become a key location for author visits, workshops and literacy-themed holiday clubs to support and develop reading throughout the school and the wider community.
As well as the library makeover, Sandal Primary School will receive advice and staff training from the School Library Association to ensure its new reading space becomes an example for other schools across the country to learn from.
Louise Dale, Headteacher at Sandal Primary School said:
"Reading is key to all learning no matter what your age, and opens your imagination to the whole world and beyond. Winning this prize will help our school realise its vision for a reading space which will truly inspire our pupils, staff, parents and community to find a love for books and a love for learning."
The National Literacy Trust’s Bradford Hub Manager, Imran Hafeez said:
“The library makeover is a fantastic opportunity for Sandal Primary School to create a dedicated space for its pupils to discover the joy of reading which so important in developing their literacy.”
The judging panel comprised of BookSpace Managing Director Helen Thomas, School Library Association Director Tricia Adams and the National Literacy Trust’s Hubs Manager, Jason Vit.
BookSpace Managing Director Helen Thomas said:
“Sandal Primary School stood out for me because I loved their ideas for sharing the outcomes of their library project with other schools; it was both innovative and tangible – proposing to record their progress through blogs, websites, forums and email groups as well as welcoming visits from other schools”.
School Library Association Director Tricia Adams said:
“The School Library Association is delighted it will be working with Sandal Primary School to develop its new library for the benefit of the pupils and the community with BookSpace and the Bradford Literacy Campaign. At the School Library Association, we are committed to supporting everyone involved with school libraries, promoting high quality reading and learning opportunities for all.
Congratulations to Sandal Primary School which has shown its commitment to succeed against a strong field of high quality entries., The school has a qualified librarian on their staff to lead and nurture the development of their library.”