A Stalybridge school has launched an initiative to encourage more primary school children to pick up a book and enjoy the world of storytelling.

Copley Academy is visiting local primary schools and donating a novel to encourage new Year 7 students joining the school in September to continue with their love of reading and learning as well as preparing them for their next step into secondary school.

During the visits, students are presented with the book by Copley Academy Principal, Ruth Craven, from best-selling author and Waterstones favourite Katherine Rundell, who returns with an exquisitely crafted story, The Good Thieves, about resourceful children let loose in prohibition-era New York.

Short-listed for the British Book Awards Children’s Fiction Book of the Year 2020, The Good Thieves novel was chosen by the Academy to support Year 6 students entering into Year 7 with their literacy transition strategy, which is carried out through the Great Lives Tutor programme and the English curriculum.

Activities which aim to encourage children to pick a book include regular staff reading sessions followed by weekly project tasks to complete.

The initiative also aims to provide students with a common theme across lessons as a starting point for their new term, as well as promoting that Copley Academy is ‘A Reading Academy’.

Ruth Craven, Copley Academy principal, said: “We are keen to encourage children to be excited about these amazing adventure stories and bring this enthusiasm with them when they join us in September. Our local community is important to us and it’s pleasing to be able to work with our local primary schools, to align our resources with their curriculum, and develop stronger relationships which benefit the transition of their children into secondary education.”

Since the launch, Ruth and assistant principal Jo Tidbury, have been busy visiting local primary schools and they have been delighted and encouraged to see so many students taking the book with them to read.

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