'A physical book is such a lovely sanctuary for the students'
With the support of The Sunflower Charitable Foundation we brought our Every Child a Reader programme to St Cronan's Senior National School in Swords, Dublin. Vice Principal Suzanne Doyle and Literacy Coordinator Jane O'Toole discussed the impact of this project on their students and the wider school community.
We're absolutely thrilled to have been chosen for Every Child a Reader. Over the years we've put great energy into reviving the library, especially since covid, and getting that practice up and running again, and then to have an introduction of these amazing new books and a partnership with Children's Books Ireland to bring it all to life, it's just added a real energy to the place already, even though we're just at the start of it…
We know how important reading for joy is and we have tried to bring that to the school as teachers, but it's challenging, because we have so many subjects to get through. To get this energy and these ideas and the support to do this so that children can see reading as a hobby, as opposed to a subject, that's incredibly valuable for us. It’s such an important help to refresh our ideas around reading and give us the support to encourage children to read for fun more.
What we see from Children’s Books Ireland is that you’re not just giving us books, you’re giving us a whole new practice around reading and how we implement reading for fun initiatives and how we make it joyful for the children, so it becomes a mainstay in children’s lives long after they leave the school.
'It’s such a critical time in these children’s lives to develop that habit so we're really thrilled with the support of a project like this, where it’s not just about the books but about the practice and implementation of building a culture of reading for joy and equipping us to empower the children to access it.'
Everybody has been so energised and in particular, the student advisory group is really excited. They're passionate about reading, that’s why they were nominated to do it and they’re having meetings themselves here about the library. This is the kind of enthusiasm that spreads around the school.
When you have an organization like Children's Books Ireland come to your school, the children see that this is important, that reading for children is important. And to have that partnership where we can let you know what our context is and you can share with us ways of moving forward, and we can trial those is just brilliant. That kind of cycle of practice and reflection with lots of children's input and creating that space to have children's voices heard is everything.
We hope that by the end of the year more students will enjoy reading and every student will find a book that they love in our library, that we will have reactivated the joy around reading in the school. Children often read with their parents in the junior years, and there's a chance they might go off course in senior years. Being able to reinvigorate their love for it is huge, because that love is still there, but it’s competing with so many other distractions like social media or being online, but at the end of the day the physical book is such a lovely sanctuary.
There's something there for everybody in the school in this programme and it’s all synonymous with fun, being part of the school, and making reading a big part of their life. It’s just wonderful.
About Every Child a Reader
Every Child A Reader brings several Children's Books Ireland school book-gifting programmes together under one name. Drawing on the organisation's vision, we want every child in the selected schools to be reading more, enjoying reading more and reading more widely. We hope to enable positive, sustainable changes in these schools by providing brilliant books, engaging resources, and inspiring visits from Champions of Reading.
About The Sunflower Charitable Foundation
The Sunflower Charitable Foundation was established in Ireland in 2021 as a family trust and registered charity. The mission of our Foundation is to support the growth of resilient communities – with a particular focus on the wellbeing of children and young people – and contribute to environment sustainability in Ireland and overseas.
