As part of new “Literacy and Numeracy” changes in the school, we encourage the pupils to read for their own interest and pleasure. This to us is a priority. Our pupils are bringing in a wide variety of reading material, from books to newspapers to limited editions of comic annuals to participate in this new initiative. We piloted this scheme for 2 weeks last May. This is for fun, pure indulgence, but there is a serious side, children in general, around Ireland and around the world,  aren’t reading as much as they should when they go home, there are more distractions, more electronic game devices, jobs to do, more tv channels to watch, etc and sometimes reading for pleasure doesn’t get as much time as it should in the family home.

This school term we are participating in USSR (Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading) to give the pupils the opportunity to read self-selected materials silently for pure enjoyment for 20 minutes every day, for the first week, and then twice a week there after. Both pupils and staff with drop what they are doing and start reading their chosen library book. There are no interruptions, no phone calls, no visits, during this reading time, to ensure that the pupils get total lost, totally involved in their books.

These are a some of the wide variety of books read during USSR in our school last week.

Three cheeky grins from happy boys, sitting back enjoying their book magazines.