Reading for Pleasure
One of my greatest loves is reading, whether absorbing myself on a long journey, listening to an audio book whilst tiding up or winding down of an evening.
Reading is without doubt one of the most amazing skills. It entertains, inspires, provokes, captivates and motivates. It provides us with the opportunity to simply escape or explore, inquire; discover different countries, worlds, lives and more. It is the single most powerful skill that we have and delivering a passion and joy for reading is undoubtedly one of the most important jobs we have as teachers or parents.
As this year’s Book Week comes to an end, we hope that it has launched children’s interest in books even further, encouraging them to try new authors or genres, perhaps to write a piece themselves or maybe ask an adult to read with them even more. As ever, Book Week has been a celebration of all things literary. Children have shared their favourite books with friends and teachers alike, teachers have shared and read aloud to mixed age groups some of their cherished books. I still have vivid memories of the books my teacher would read at the end of every day - it was the most important 15 minutes of my day. ‘The Gift from Winklesea’ which much to my delight I recently found in Ms Clements class, ‘The Stream that Stood Still’ which is sadly out of print and ‘The Year of the Worm’ are three that stayed with me, not least because of the significance they held in my day. Nearly home-time, a time to relax and let the words wash over us. It is my dearest desire that this and every Book Week leaves our children with lasting memories and that they too will reach adulthood with titles they cannot forget and a love of reading that cannot be erased.
Reading for pleasure demonstrably increases attainment in vocabulary, spelling and Maths (Sullivan and Brown 2013), it improves empathy and self identity (The Reading Agency 2015) and that is before you factor in the stress reduction and sleep improvement.
Book Week may be over but the reading adventure has only just begun.
Claire Boissiere, on behalf of the PYP Leadership Team
World Book Week
This week, we have celebrated World Book Week to share the joy of reading and encourage our children to explore the wonderful world of books. There has been a whirlwind of activities and events to explore, with pupils participating in storytelling sessions, bookshop visits, author visits and much more! For World Book Day on Thursday, 2 March our students took part in our annual costume parade in St Katharines Hall. This was a magnificent display of costumes as our students (and staff!) dressed up as their favourite book characters. Please use the link below to see a selection of photo highlights!
Author Workshops
We were delighted to welcome Mark Smith, Kelpies Prize winner and author of Slugboy Saves the World, and Pamela Butchart, author of the Baby Aliens series, to St Leonards to host engaging workshops with our students. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the books and how they were written and illustrated. Many left feeling inspired to create their own novel, and some even managed to get a signed copy!
Storytelling Sessions
It was wonderful to see mixed age groups gather together to be read a story by key members of staff - listening to their favourite tales and becoming encapsulated by the books. Mr Brian even shared some fairy tales in French with some of our younger pupils!
Year 1-3 Book Quiz
As part of Book Week, Year 1-3 took part in an Inter-Island Book Quiz, getting into mixed age groups and answering questions based on three well-known children's books to win Island points. Well done to all involved!
Year 1
Waterstones Visit
Both Year 1 classes jumped at the opportunity to take a trip to Waterstones bookshop for World Book Week. The students loved exploring all of the wonderful books. They also enjoyed exchanging their voucher for a book, bookmark and a puzzle page - what a fabulous day out!
1C
Sharing Books
This week, each pupil brought in their favourite book to share with their peers. They took in turns to read the books, climbing into the teepee to find a cosy spot to settle down and enjoy!
Sock Puppets
The children in 1C began their exciting sock puppet project this week. The pupils have all brought in a pair of old socks that they want to transform into a puppet. The children started by designing their puppets, this will be followed by creating them in the coming weeks. We already have some wonderful artists in the class, designing unicorns, princesses and more - we look forward to seeing their final creations!
Maths Mix-Up
1C have been mixing up their maths this week, investigating subtraction on both their whiteboards and on their iPads!
1P
World Book Week
As part of Book Week, 1P have enjoyed reading together as a class everyday this week - sharing their ideas of what they think will happen next!
A big thank you to Una in 1P who brought in toothbrushes and toothpaste as part of her World Book Day costume. Una dressed as the Demon Dentist by David Walliams, and shared the teeth cleaning equipment with her class!
Types of Play
As part of their Unit of Inquiry, How we Express Ourselves - Toys, 1P have been thinking about different types of play. The children enjoyed small world play, water play, role play and construction.
Year 2
Campfire Stories
Year 2 tuned in to their new Unit of Inquiry, ‘Stories from around the World’ and time-travelled back to the age of the ancient Picts to learn a little about their homes and lives. They discovered that without modern technology, people had fewer ways of sharing stories compared with the books, films, and sophisticated means we take for granted today. But still people managed to share their stories orally, as well as expressing their ideas through song, dance, drama, music, and artwork.
The children set up camp, and sat around the campfire to play story-telling games. As they told and retold tales, they realised that stories change and evolve as each storyteller adds their own perspective and ideas to the narrative…
Hunter - "We whispered a story. One person would start, and say something, and then you passed it on until the person at the end of the circle. And when it goes back to them, it might change. But it also might not. The words might change."
Reuben - "Because sometimes, as it gets passed down generations, it can be mixed up. So, the people who made up the story, they pass it down to their children, and then they pass it on, and they might change it."
Owen - "It could get kind of different. Changed. They might change it because they can't hear it that well, or can't remember it that well. And then when it passes on, it's going to be a bit different. It might not be right… It might even be better!"
Reuben - "Our stories changed very much! (We passed the story of Goldilocks around the circle) It was normal until it hit Hudson! Hudson said, “Goldilocks was caught in a net!”. And that’s not the same story I knew."
Hudson - "It's because I saw it on YouTube."
Toppings Bookshop
As part of Book Week, Year 2 made the short trip to Toppings the Book Sellers in St Andrews for a wonderful book reading by Leanne, their Children's Book Specialist. Leanne treated the children to an animated rendition of a traditional Scottish tale, The Legend of the Unicorn by Lari Don. Beautiful illustrations brought this mythical tale alive and sparked off a spirited debate as to whether unicorns really are alive. Watch out when you are next deep inside a dark Scottish forest, just in case you catch sight of this incredible beast. A big thank you to Toppings for this wonderful opportunity!
Year 3
World Book Week
Year 3 have fully embraced World Book Week! The class not only enjoyed the various book readings by staff during breaktimes, but also enjoyed watching the live reading of fairy tales by Alex Scheffler and Julia Donaldson. They also watched Lisa Thompson explain what the inspiration was for writing 'Rollercoaster Boy' and loved working out the clues for her online escape room.
On World Book Day, Year 3 went in their costumes to Waterstones to swap their book token for a World Book Day book. They also listened to Mrs Sneddon read the story You can't play here by Angus Corby.
A shout out to Rory in Year 3 for his wonderful costume on World Book Day, dressing as Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood.
Solar Systems
In the last week of their Solar System Unit, the children have been creative in designing their own games to share the knowledge they have acquired. There were board games, happy families, word searches with clues to the hidden words, and more. The class enjoyed playing their games together - having lots of fun!
3D Shapes
Mrs Sneddon threw the children in the deep end by asking them to cut out nets of shapes and fold them into a 3D model. This was a real challenge!
Lots of conversation was had to work out how to construct the 3D shapes successfully, well done Year 3!
Year 4
Picture Books
Year 4 have been creating picture books based on their World Book Day characters. They have each given their picture book character Learner Profile attributes and a moral/message for the reader. They have been working on their front covers, blurbs and a writing plot. The students have then used their picture books inspire their story writing. Excellent work, Year 4!
Dave the Pigeon
Year 4 were delighted to attend an author and illustrator lesson from the creators of Dave the Pigeon as part of World Book Week. All of the students participated in the draw along with some fabulous results!
Waterstones Visit
Year 4 thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Waterstones in St Andrews to exchange their World Book Day tokens for a book of their choice!
Year 5
Celebration of Learning
Year 5 have been incredibly busy this week preparing for their Celebration of Learning, as well as also celebrating World Book Week. The students led a Celebration of Learning assembly for the Junior School and Year 5 parents showcasing their learning so far this term. Mrs Stewart directed a short play highlighting the damage we are doing to planet Earth and actions we could take to prevent further harm. The pupils also presented some lovely poetry and after the assembly invited their parents to their classroom to share their learning journey. Well done, Year 5!
Amber’s Birthday
Instead of asking for presents, Amber M decided for her birthday she would ask for donations toward the Syrian/Turkish earthquake appeal. Her friends were unbelievably generous, donating £700! What a wonderful initiative, well done Amber and thank you to all families who donated.
Year 6
UOI Exhibition
Work is continuing on the Year 6 UOI Exhibition. Groups and Lines of Inquiry have been finalised and mentors are being assigned. The students have begun to tune into their Unit, devising questions and planning research.
Maths & Literacy
In Maths, the pupils are nearing the end of their work on Fractions, where they have been calculating with fractions and converting between mixed numbers and improper fractions. Next up it’s decimals and percentages!
In Literacy, they have continued to work on introducing new vocabulary into their stories, as well as develop their use of figurative language. As part of World Book Week, the pupils also enjoyed a trip to Waterstones to explore their selection and purchase some of their books. They also attended author visits and read as much as possible to celebrate the joy of reading.
Eco Team
This week, the Year 6 Eco Team met with the Senior School Liaison Team to plan lots of exciting Eco initiatives - we look forward to hearing more!
Swimming Gala
Huge congratulations to William M in Year 6 who took part in the 100m Individual Medley at the Glenrothes Level 2 Gala last weekend and managed to come first in his age group - super well done!
St Leonards Cross Country
A big well done to all pupils who competed in the recent Cross Country events at Belhaven Hill School and Lathallan School.
A highlight of the Belhaven event was Phoebe F who came first out of 70 runners in the U11 girls’ race at John Muir Country Park, Dundar. What an incredible achievement!
At Lathallan, the U11/U12 team finished in second place overall, with Cara L, Phoebe F and William M all coming first in their age groups. This was followed closely by Patrick F in second place and Idar P, Annie P and Paula T in fourth position. Huge congratulations to all of our runners!
Josh Quigley Visit
A big thank you to Josh Quigley, World Record-breaking athlete and cyclist, for meeting with Year 1, 3 and 4 this week to speak to and inspire our pupils. Josh shared his sporting career with the pupils, speaking about his achievements and motivating the students to always perform to the best of their ability.
Word Millionaire
Congratulations to Thea S in Year 5 and Theo K in Year 6 who both received Word Millionaire certificates this week for becoming a Renaissance Accelerated Reader, having read over 1 million words!
Pupil Leadership Assembly
It was a pleasure to welcome the newly appointed Pupil Leadership team to the Junior school to introduce themselves to the students and to meet with the Junior Class Representatives to hear their ideas or concerns. Thanks to the Year 12 leaders for coming down to see us.
