NEW BOOKS FOR LOCAL STUDENTS
5 June 2009
Taita College students recently received a huge delivery of irresistible books, with the aim of turning reluctant readers into page turning addicts.
With the help of a $5000 grant from NZCT (New Zealand Community Trust), around 500 books were purchased, and now all of the college’s year nine classes house a great selection with which to lure young readers. Brenda Godwin, Taita College’s Literacy Project Leader, explains:
“Our goal is to encourage students to read. Reading is an essential life skill and many of our students’ reading skills need considerable development,” says Brenda. “Once you have the basics of reading under your belt, the best thing you can do is practise, practise, practise. However, not all students have access to books - some don’t have many books at home, some don’t like going to libraries, and some just don’t get excited about books. To remove these barriers, and spark an interest in reading, we developed the ‘Drop Everything and Read Programme’.
“The programme has been running across the school for several years, and basically it works by giving students 20 minutes each day to read something of their choice,” she says. “However, to inject some fresh enthusiasm and interest in our reading, we’ve invested some of our money, as well as the grant money from NZCT, into new books.
“When a book captures a student’s interest, they are motivated to understand it – and reading for ‘meaning’ like this, improves their comprehension. Therefore, we’ve deliberately chosen books which children are drawn to – for example the Guinness Book of World Records. Our students love this, but it’s a library reference book, which means that unless they like spending lots of time in the library, they don’t have much of an opportunity to read it.
“We’re trialling a new system at the moment, where the new books get rotated through all our year nine classes. Each class has a ‘kit’ of around 70 books, which stays in their class for five weeks. During that time, the students spend 20 minutes a day reading a book of their choice from the kit, if they have not brought material of their own to school.”
Brenda says the students’ feedback on the kits is extremely positive. A recent student survey showed that almost all of the students described the kits as a helpful aid to encourage them to read. Some students, who formerly stated they hated reading, have taken an interest in some of the material. Most students stated that they would like to read more of the materials the kits provide. Some recommended further materials and subjects of interest – which is exactly what Taita College wants to hear and facilitate.
“We believe that by making it easy for them to read – by providing interesting, stimulating books, we can help our students, especially those who are reluctant readers, develop their reading skills and hopefully catch the reading ‘bug’.”
NZCT Wellington Regional Advisory Committee Chairperson, Paul Elenio, says the trust is proud to support Taita College and its reading programme.
“This is an innovative project, benefiting lots of children,” says Paul. “We are pleased we could be involved and support young people from Taita. NZCT is mindful of returning funds generated by its gaming machines, back to the community where the money was raised – and that is what has happened here. This is a really positive outcome for both the teachers and students – and we wish them well for the future.”
– Ends –
Last year alone NZCT distributed over $42m in grants to sports, community and cultural events and clubs throughout the country. NZCT is the largest funder of amateur sport in New Zealand, and we’re proud of it. This is why we’re known as the backbone of amateur sports in New Zealand.
We are proud of the difference we make in the community, which we can only do with the hard work of our venue operators and their staff in gaming venues around the country.
For further information/comment:
Brenda Godwin, Literacy Project Manager, Taita College. Tel: 04 567 8728 (ext 237)
Paul Elenio, chair, NZCT Wellington Regional Advisory Board. Tel: 0274 451-9968
For more information about NZCT:
· visit www.nzct.org.nz or
· email info@nzct.org.nz or
· call Mike Knell, Chief Executive, on 0800 44 69 28
