Blog

One of the most successful events Tanfield Lea Junior School held was a Reading Workshop and Sleepover.  They abandoned the timetable one Friday afternoon and grouped  204 children into mixed-age groups of ten. Staff and a number of adults were positioned around school so that the groups could move on every 20 minutes. The theme was 'Traditional Fairy Tales'. Every adult had chosen a fairy tale they wanted to read and talk to the children about. All adults and children came dressed as a book character. It was a fantastic afternoon of varied literature and the children loved it. That evening the school continued its reading activities with Year five and six children. 67 of them returned to school at 7 pm for a sleepover. They came equipped with their sleeping bags, mats, pillows and pyjamas. First they tried three different reading related activities. In the ICT suite the children used a website which helped them to create attractive book plates. A second group played 'The Newspaper Game' where each team of five were given the same newspaper and time to read it. They were then asked questions on it, with the first team to answer receiving the points. The third group played a name game based around book characters. The groups rotated and by about 9.30 pm they'd had a go at everything. Supper followed: hot chocolate and a chocolate bar. Of course they had a bed time reading story - the new World Book Day Horrid Henry, all about a sleep over. By midnight all 67 were snuggled up on the hall floor. Dawn came too soon. Sausage sandwiches and fruit juice softened the blow and at 9 am they all headed home.

Tanfield Lea Junior School is working hard to create a library in school and anticipates that it will be opening by the end of September 2005. It has a bath all ready to be the focal point of the library - can you think of a better place to lie and enjoy a book? Just this week the school received a cheque for £500 from an ex-pupil who came to the school in the 1940s and had recently read about the shortage of books in schools. He wanted to put something back into his old school. Of course we have told him about our library and how we will use the money.