This summer Scoil Mhuire have decided to launch a summer reading initiative. The purpose of which is to encourage students to become lifelong readers and to provide fun and engaging ways to build their independent reading skills.

• Avoiding the “summer slide”

Children, who read during the summer gain reading skills, while those who do not often slide backward. A considerable body of research indicates that children’s reading ability declines between the end of one school year and the beginning of the next; however, this can be prevented by performing one fundamental task- reading throughout the summer.

• Summer Reading Challenge

To this end we’re asking the children of Scoil Mhuire to join the summer reading challenge at http://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/. This website allows children to join in the challenge of reading as many books as possible over the summer. The site allows the children to log the books they’ve read, to write short reviews, to find books that suit their age and to hear recommendations from children and celebrities. When we return to school in September, we will have a ceremony highlighting and rewarding the efforts of those who engaged in the challenge.

• Teachers’ role

Your child’s teacher will demonstrate the website and the registering process to your child in class before we break for the holidays. This will mean your child should have a good idea of how to take part when they go home.

• Parents’ role

What we’re asking of you, the parents and guardians, is to assist your child in registering with the site. An e-mail address is required but this is solely used for the purposes of password retrieval. We’re also asking you to remind the children to log in regularly and update the books they’ve read.

• Children’s role

Read, read, read! We’re asking the children to read as much as they can and to remember to log the books they’ve reading on the Summer Reading Challenge website.
Thank you in advance for taking part and we hope you have a great summer.
John Egan