Top Trumps

We love the fact that children’s favourite Top Trumps can be used in a Readathon. From book characters to comics, this fun and informative game is a real winner for getting children engaged!

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1-day sponsored read

Castle Manor Academy run a One Day Readathon Challenge, building up a buzz around Readathon for a few weeks leading up to the event and then running the whole event in one day.

Rebecca Neal, Partnership Librarian at  Castle Manor Academy says ”It helps to draw in a lot of our students who find it difficult to access reading and struggle to build self-esteem regarding books. They often feel very special and lucky to be able to miss lessons for the day allowing us to build a positive relationship with reading.  Students are chomping at the bit to read a book if it gets them out of certain subjects!”

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Tents, books and snacks!

Rebecca Neal, Partnership Librarian at Castle Manor Academy arranged with the Academy’s Outdoor Learning Coordinator to make use of the tents used by the Duke of Edinburgh students. They filled the tents with beanbags and played tranquil music inside to create a cosy, calm and comforting atmosphere. Students were provided with squash and snacks throughout the day to keep them going and we were even joined by the local playgroup children for their storytime!

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Song lyrics inspiration

Catherine Escott-Allen from Maidenhill School, Stroud, Gloucestershire  drafted the lyrics of popular songs for her students  to read to count towards their Readathon targets –  we love that idea !

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Doors as book covers

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Readathon Challenge

Mrs Scott , Librarian from  Queen’s Gate School , set this Readathon challenge for her pupils , including a book that has won the Carnegie Award and a book chosen for you by your parent, grandparent or other family member. Great idea!

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Classrooms transformed

Queen’s Gate School decorated their form rooms as a place from a book, including the House of Miss Havisham, from Great Expectations.

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Reading Prompt Posters

Rebecca Wilson, College Librarian at Huddersfield New College, also created Reading Prompt posters to help give  her students ideas as to what to read. Rebecca created six different prompts :

1. Reading the whole Harry Potter Series – it’s a universal favourite no matter the age range and with 7 books it’s a good challenging amount.
2. Reading as many of the Discworld series as possible – honouring the late Terry Pratchett and his amazing 41 strong series.
3. Reading your To-Read shelf or pile – most bookworms will have a pile or shelf of books waiting to be read.
4. Reading non-fiction on hobbies or interests – challenging for fiction readers
5. Reading biographies on inspirational people – introducing a new genre to readers
6. Reading Comics & Graphic Novels – discovering this visual artistic genre.

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Page Turner Prize

We love this idea from Rebecca Wilson, College Librarian at Huddersfield New College.  To encourage their students to participate, whether reluctant or strong readers, the Library set up a Page Turner Prize where the student who raises the most sponsorship gets a free book of their choice from their Library suppliers.  Fab!

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On the spot reads

Lucy Robinson, Teacher from Leighterton Primary School , encouraged the children to drum up some extra money for their Readathon by on supporting the children to do  on-the-spot sponsored reads. For example, ‘Will you put 50p in my pot if I read you this poem?”. What a great idea!

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Readathon Book Group

Helen Cooper, Librarian at  King Henry VIII School, Coventry has run a Readathon Reading Group in the Library at lunchtimes. What a great idea!

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Link to World Book Day

World Book Day is an ideal time to run a Readathon – there is so much buzz about books in the media, and of course, all schools can apply for the £1 vouchers for pupils to buy a World Book Day book. World Book Day is held on the first Thursday of March.

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Older students run it

Because we’ve made Readathon really easy to run, and provide all the resources you need including a DVD to launch Readathon in your school, it’s an ideal event for older students to run for younger pupils.

Not only does it remind older pupils to read, it also develops their citizenship, organisation and communication skills. And because the money raised helps children in hospital, their awareness of community engagement is also boosted.

Give them the task of promoting Readathon, getting local press coverage, using social media and encouraging participation. As well as building a buzz about books around the school, your older students will be building up their CVs.

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Pupil led book swap

Book swaps are a super simple way to get pupils sharing book ideas. For every book brought in, a pupil can take one home. A great way for students to see what others are reading, saving money and its good for the environment! Team a book swap up with our Book Review slips to compare what different readers think of the book.

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Pupils choose free books

Year 7 pupils from Ranelagh School, Berkshire, who smashed their own Readathon record by raising a whopping £2,568, received vouchers worth £513 to spend with Scholastic Book Clubs!

Miriam Beatty, English teacher and Readathon organiser, said: “We use the vouchers to buy books to promote reading for pleasure. Last year, we purchased several copies of each of the Carnegie Award shortlist, so that the children could shadow the awards.”

Why not get some of your remarkable Readathon readers choosing your free books.

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Fun door signs for staff!

Involve all staff teams from support staff to the Head in Readathon. Encourage them to bring their current reading book into school and let pupils know how much they are reading. Download our “Today I am reading…” sheets, laminate and ask staff to stick them on their office and class room doors to remind pupils that they read too!

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A reading sleepover!

Okay, so this one is not for the faint-hearted but for boarding schools in particular, why not host a Readathon sleepover, sharing hot chocolate, ghost stories and books before lights out. You can invite day pupils to stay late and join in the fun.

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Read it before you see it!

Sometimes it’s hard to compete with the ever-present screen, so how about using TV and film to encourage reading. So many books from the classics to the latest page-turners are being turned into movies and TV shows, that it’s a great way to get pupils reading. Get a class discussion going comparing the book with the movie. Click here for a useful list of children’s book that have been turned into films.

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Selfies & phone-power!

Use selfies & smart phones to your advantage! Commonweal School challenged their pupils to take photos which were fitting to the title of the book they were reading – we had all sorts of photos keeping us entertained. Staff and pupils really got behind the idea, we loved seeing their photos.

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Have a pupil in hospital?

If you have a pupil experiencing repeat or prolonged treatment at one of our hospitals, running a sponsored read can be an incredibly positive, rewarding and motivating way for pupils to show they care.  Our bookcases and storytellers are funded by children running our sponsored read and operate out of all 30 of the UK’s main children’s hospitals. Click here to find your nearest Read for Good hospital. We try to spend money locally to where it’ s raised, so you can be sure your local hospital will be benefiting from your reading efforts through our unique programme.

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