Preston North End Community and Education Trust are helping children to improve their reading skills all throughout the year, as well as on World Book Day.
The Trust currently delivers the Premier League Reading Stars programme for primary school children, and recently partnered with the National Literacy Trust to begin the delivery of the Game Changers programme for secondary school children earlier this year.
Reading Stars falls under the Premier League Primary Stars programme and is also delivered in the conjunction with the National Literacy Trust.
Reading Stars is a literacy intervention programme which looks to increase the motivation of students to read, primarily for those in the latter years of Key Stage Two; years five and six.
The programme uses sporting and football activities to develop pupils’ interest in reading, with PNECET delivering the programme to a number of its partner primary schools.
Game Changers is a National Literacy Trust programme which the Trust begun the delivery of in January this year.
Through the delivery of football-themed reading lessons, and the appeal of the sport, Game Changers aims to use the power of football to improve the reading skills and motivation of students who have been excluded from mainstream education.
Shaftesbury High School in Chorley, one school in which the Trust has delivered the programme, has seen lessons conducted by Schools Provision Officer Michael Lowe.
Speaking of the progress of the programme so far, Michael told PNE.Com: “Preston North End Community and Education trust are currently in week 6 of 10 of the Game Changers programme.
“Working at Shaftesbury High School in Chorley, we are working alongside six chosen year 10 and 11 pupils to try to improve and change their viewpoints on reading, as well as show them the importance reading will have for them later on in life.
“Working on ‘looking, inferring and thinking’ the pupils have read texts from books as well as watching videos from the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Stormzy and Raheem Sterling.
“However, the learning doesn’t stop there. After a classroom-based session, pupils then get to challenge themselves practically using skills like teamwork and communication in football-based challenges.”
The Primary Stars programme itself incorporates comprehensive support with reading, as part of its aim of forming cross-curricular lessons in maths and literacy
As part of World Book Day, children visiting Preston North End for Saturday’s game against Queens Park Rangers at Deepdale are able to claim a free book, by collecting a £1 World Book Day token from a WHSmith stall which will be situated on the Sir Tom Finney Executive Entrance.
The token can be exchanged for one of 12 titles, for free, and these books will be available on the stall this weekend. Tokens can also be used as a discount in participating stores as a £1 discount from any title, be it physical or audiobook form, priced at £2.99 or over.
Find out more about our schools provision by clicking here.