We are delighted to announce that Astrea Academy Sheffield is the winner of our Back to School Reading Zone Challenge.
Created in partnership with the Chase School Libraries Programme, this challenge celebrated reading in all its forms, and saw students tasked with reading books and recording their progress and adding motifs on their Reading Zone poster, provided by us.
The poster included a variety of ‘zones’, such as fiction books, graphic novels, audiobooks and newspapers & journals to ensure that even the most reluctant readers could take part and enjoy reading.
To enter the prize draw, schools were invited to submit a photograph of their completed poster on display. Astrea Academy’s beautifully filled in poster was selected at random as the lucky winner out of 150 schools who took part.
Courtesy of our partner Chase, Astrea Academy will receive some fantastic prizes, including beanbag reading chairs and 30 age-appropriate wellbeing titles to kit out a physical reading zone at the school.
Our research shows the connection between mental health and reading for pleasure, so this challenge aimed to help students (and staff) support their wellbeing at the start of a new school year, as well as helping them explore their own reader identity and preferences.
We would like to thank all the students who took part in the challenge and congratulate Astrea Academy on their brilliant win.
“This win will have a huge positive impact for our library and our students and I are very thankful. Our poster was awarded pride of place in our library and this created a vibrant talking point which sparked interest and intrigue in our scholars. Reading is fundamental to our academy and this belief is embedded into all aspects of school life. Our school library is a space that the scholars deserve, and as such, is widely loved, valued and appreciated. It is our safe-space, an oasis at the centre of our school. Your Back to School Reading Zone Challenge has been the perfect activity for our scholars – what a fabulous thing to celebrate!”
Penny Dobrowolska, Librarian & Reading Coach at Astrea Academy Sheffield