This article is from page 27 of the 2007-07-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
SOMETHING truly remarkable took place in Tubber National School this year. In the seven months be- tween September of 2006 and May of 2007, 17 children from the north Clare school read an amazing 2086 books, or one book for each child every two days.
This sudden addiction to the writ- ten word came through the schools participation in the ‘Transatlantic Reading Challenge. The reading challenge was set up between some 20 school in Clare and a number of school in Canada to encourage stu- dents to read more books.
“Each child was given a reading log at the beginning of the year and this log was used to record each book they read. In total the children of the school read 2086 books. There was 17 pupils involved so that means that in the seven month period from Sep- tember to the end of May, on average 111 books were read per child in the school,’ said a spokesperson from the school.
“We actively encouraged reading this year, we ran a number of ini- tiatives in the school such as paired reading, we got involved in the MS Readathon and we set up a Reading Buddies scheme. It became part of the curriculum but we also encour-
aged them to read from outside of it”
The Reading Buddies Scheme sees children paired off, with each child helping to support his or her partner in their own reading.
“It is an initiative that is used in a lot of schools to promote literacy and to help reluctant readers to read in a comfortable and encouraging envi- ronment. It gives them a support net- work, they can both get together and help one another with any difficult words and with the filling out the log,” continued the spokesperson.
“They were devouring books, I just couldn’t get over it. It really started to gain momentum as it went on. The
children have got a real respect for books and it is a life-long still for them. It’s the road to knowledge but it’s also a road to a more fulfilling and happy life.”
Amazingly for such a small school, Tubber came second of the 20 Clare schools in the competition. To mark their achievement, Chairman of Clare County Council’s Community and Cultural SPC, Councillor Pat Hayes, present a plaque to Lisa Mc- Mahon of Tubber National School last week.