YOUNGSTERS SPOT A RIDE WITH STORYTELLING ACTIVITIES

Pupils from three local primary schools took part in a ‘chat, play, read’ initiative at the Beacon of Light last week in association with The National Literacy Trust and Stagecoach. The partnership saw pupils from Southwick, Hudson Road and Valley Road primary schools take part in a three-part bus tour to promote simple ways to make your child happy and help them to learn whilst also showing parents how they can improve their children’s communication, language and literacy skills in the home. The initiative from Read North East, which is fronted by Eric Hill’s Spot books shows parents how they can improve their children’s communication, language and literacy skills in the home. Commencing their day with a storytelling and networking event at Stagecoach North East headquarters, the children heard Spot-related tales from local storyteller, Jonah York. The pupils then travelled to the Beacon of Light for a sports programme themed around the Spot books, delivered by Sunderland AFC’s official charity, Foundation of Light. The event closed with a schedule of activities at Sunderland City Library in which they heard more stories and how to make the most of their local library.

We had a great time with the youngsters and really enjoyed showing them how sport can be used to bring books to life.  Thanks to the National Literacy Trust for inviting us to play our part in helping these youngsters get more out of reading

Danielle Chapman, Primary Stars Coordinator for Foundation of Light

Every pupil involved in the event took home a goody bag including an interactive Spot the Dog leaflet, which brings storytime to life with plenty of tips for making reading fun, and a free copy of Spot Plays Football, kindly provided by Penguin Random House. Foundation of Light delivers award-winning sports and education programmes for schools and academies across the North East, bringing subjects to life for pupils helping improve attitudes and skills while also increasing enthusiasm and motivation within the classroom. All sessions are mapped to the National Curriculum in areas including Literacy, Numeracy, ICT, Physical Education, Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) and more. All in-school delivery is suitable for Ofsted inspections. As well as Foundation of Light organised events, special curriculum days are available at the inspirational Beacon of Light for schools throughout the area.