Inverness school celebrates being named 500th Reading School in Scotland
An Inverness school has helped a literacy scheme reach a Scottish milestone - after it became the 500th in Scotland to achieve Reading Schools accreditation.
Inverness Royal Academy celebrated its accreditation when it was presented with a trophy by the Scottish Book Trust, which runs the programme.
The trust’s director of programme, Rosemary Ward, and Highland Council’s literacy Coordinator Jenny Wilson visited the school for the awarding of the trophy.
The unique programme is the first of its kind in the world,
The school received its accreditation after impressing with their strong reading culture, their commitment to Gaelic and their support of the BookBox pilot project, where Scottish Book Trust gift a box of books to pupils.
The successful Reading Schools programme was developed by Scotland’s national reading and writing charity as a means of working within the curriculum to encourage a culture of reading for pleasure, so that every pupil can feed their imagination through books.
Such is its status as a learning leader, that other countries, including Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, Hungary and Jordan, have been in touch with the Scottish Book Trust for advice on how to establish their own programme.
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Schools advance from their initial core accreditation to silver and gold status by continuing to develop new activities and initiatives for teachers, pupils and the wider community to boost their love of reading. Reading for pleasure is central to supporting wellbeing, improving attainment across the curriculum, and boosting critical thinking, creativity, empathy and resilience.
Kathryn O’Donoghue, English teacher at Inverness Royal Academy, said: “We are so proud to not only have been accredited as a Core Level Reading School but also to be named the 500th Reading School in Scotland. The students and teachers have all worked incredibly hard to promote reading and it is a wonderful accomplishment.
“As a Gold Rights Respecting school, we know how important it is to allow everyone to be included and this was one of our main focuses as we worked hard to ensure that we both encouraged students to explore minority voices through text and provided support structures for all of our students, regardless of reading ability, to access books.
“Our Gaelic Department has been an asset to this process, as we were able to think about how our Scottish Culture and Heritage can be explored through reading.
“Our work towards Silver Accreditation is very exciting and, as an added bonus, we've been chosen to pilot the Scottish Book Trust Book Box project this year, which we’re planning to incorporate into our Mental Health Mentor programme.”
Completely free for schools to take part, and tying in with the curriculum, Reading Schools is designed and delivered by Scottish Book Trust and funded by the Scottish Government. It was first launched in 2019, initially within select local authorities in the Forth Valley and West Lothian regions, before expanding to all schools across the country in 2022.
Schools in every local authority are participating and has proved to be so popular that almost half of the schools in the country have or are working towards an accreditation.
Marc Lambert, CEO at the Scottish Book Trust, said: “We are thrilled to have surpassed such a monumental milestone of 500 schools across Scotland now accredited in our Reading Schools programme.
“It truly is a unique programme, and with every region in Scotland now boasting a school working towards their accreditation, it demonstrates widespread commitment to developing vibrant reading cultures.
“Scottish Book Trust looks forward to seeing even more schools across Scotland get on board to boost their reading cultures and all the benefits that brings.’
Jenny Gilruth, cabinet secretary for education and skills, said: ‘“Congratulations to pupils and staff at Inverness Royal Academy for becoming the 500th accredited Reading School.
“Embedding a reading culture in schools can open young people’s eyes to a lifelong love of reading and is beneficial to their attainment, health and wellbeing.
“Through Reading Schools, we want to promote a positive reading culture for communities across Scotland. I am grateful to the Scottish Book Trust for delivering this programme and to all schools who have taken part so far.”
