It has been another exciting start to the term for our ‘Year of Reading’ schools! On Thursday 9 and Friday 10 November 2023, 200 pupils from schools within our project travelled to Stroud’s Subscription Rooms to take part in this year’s Stroud Book Festival!

 

Accompanied by teachers, teaching assistants and parents, the coaches took pupils into the heart of Stroud to learn more about the work of well-loved children’s authors: Natasha Farrant, Ken Wilson-Max and Smriti Halls.

 

The authors were fantastic, engaging the children in their fantasy worlds and taking them on adventures through literature! Smriti Halls had the pupils bouncing on their seats, singing along to the words from her book ‘Stop! That’s Not My Story!’. In addition, Ken Wilson-Max encouraged the children to create new mammals – we created a ‘RoarCroc’ which had the body of a crocodile and the head of a lion! Natasha Farrant led a workshop for the older children on her new book ‘The Rescue of Ravenwood’. We were fortunate enough to see her at one of our virtual events for the Cheltenham Literature Festival last term too!

 

"I enjoyed making the front covers of our own books, following her fairy tale ideas.”  Frankie, Year 2 pupil at Down Ampney C of E Primary School.

 

"I liked Astro Girl because you were able to know when people went on the moon."  Henry, Year 2 pupil at Down Ampney C of E Primary School.

 

“I can hope everyone reads The Rescue of Ravenwood, it’s a really good story about fighting to save our planet. I hope we can get more copies for our library." Oscar, Year 4 pupil at Kemble Primary School 

 

“We were so lucky to have the opportunity to  listen to such a popular author. The children were captured by Natasha Farrant’s descriptions of the places and people that inspired her writing. I am excited to see how the pupils use the idea of ‘you mustn’t let a little thing like little stop you’ to inspire their own writing!” Emma Morrogh-Ryan, Headteacher, Kemble Primary School 

 

These enrichment opportunities are vital to developing children’s love of Reading which, in turn, will support all children to be able to read in line with their chronological age. To have proficiency in Reading is an essential tool for not only the exploration of knowledge and skills within their curriculums but also for the development of relationships. Furthermore, it enables children to gain a deeper understanding of the world around them.

 

The children’s experience of attending the Stroud Book Festival would not have been possible without the generosity of The Winstone Charitable Trust. The funding they provided has enabled children to be transported to the festival and take part in the inspiring author workshops. We are very grateful for their support and for providing the children with these memorable experiences.

 

"Thank you so much for organising the literature festival days, they were absolutely fantastic and it was so nice to go with other schools!” Fiona Pattemore, Teacher at Powells C of E Primary School.

 

We are also grateful to the local schools and their teachers who are taking part in our ‘Year of Reading’ project. Working collaboratively, we are raising the profile of Reading in our schools by sharing our great practice with each other.

 

Rachael Scott, School Improvement Lead, Corinium Education Trust. 

On Monday 6 November 2023, Chiquita Henson, Trust Lead (CEO) of The Corinium Education Trust, and Libby Pringle, Headteacher, were delighted to welcome guests to the formal opening of Chesterton Primary School’s newly refurbished facilities.

 

‘It was truly wonderful to bring so many members of the school’s local community together to witness the opening of the newly refurbished facilities and to publicly thank the Trustees of The Winstone Charitable Trust for their incredible generosity. Without their support and commitment to this project we would not have been able to bring about these significant improvements to key areas of the school.’ Chiquita Henson, Trust Lead (CEO)

 

Before entering the school for a tour, Philip Beckerlegge, Chair of The Winstone Charitable Trust, kindly cut the ribbon with the aid of Evelina and Matthew, the school’s Head pupils.

 

'I am delighted to have welcomed so many members of our community to the formal opening of our refurbishment. The developments have made a huge difference to the school, in particular the Library which the pupils absolutely love using! We are grateful to the Winstone Trust for their generosity and support in allowing us to make these changes.' Libby Pringle, Headteacher

 

'I love reading and so the library has been great!' Matthew, Head Boy

'Its amazing! Everything looks so nice and I’m really happy!' Evelina, Head Girl

 

The Corinium Education Trust appealed through various channels for funding to support this initiative and the Trust was delighted when the Trustees of The Winstone Charitable Trust initially offered to match funding. Unfortunately, because the school building is structurally sound, the Department for Education were unable to fund the refurbishment and between 2020 and 2022 many grant providers prioritised resources for projects directly related to the pandemic. However, after visiting the school and recognising the level of need, the The Winstones Trust Trustees extended their contribution to meet the full cost of Phase 1, which has led to a significantly improved welcome to the school and staff areas, a new library and reception classroom, a community hub and fully refurbished kitchen. Dr Andrew Chappell, Trustee of The Winstone Charitable Trust, who was passionate about the need for improvement from the outset, commended the work, ‘I absolutely love it!’.

 

‘While we initially thought projects of this nature should be publicly funded, following a visit to the school and learning more about what The Corinium Education Trust and the school were trying to achieve, we felt compelled to support this refurbishment and contribute to raising aspirations and standards at the school. We look forward to seeing further improvements.’ Philip Beckerlegge, Chair of The Winstone Charitable Trust

 

In addition to the Trustees of The Winstone Charitable Trust, representatives from the school, including the PTA, and other closely associated local community groups, guests included Sabrina Dixon, Mayor of Cirencester and former pupil of the school, Joe Harris, Leader of The Cotswold District Council, Lord Bathurst and Dame Fiona Reynolds, the Trust’s Patron, and the school’s former Headteacher David Williams and Andrea Pellegram, former Chair of Governors. All, having previously visited the school, had a strong sense of the ’before’ and ‘after’:

 

‘It was a delight to be invited back to Chesterton to see the refurbishment. I know the children, staff and community will make great use of the new welcoming entrance space, library and community café.’  David Williams, former Headteacher