Cheltenham rolls out teachers reading network nationwide

Cheltenham Festivals is rolling out its network of free teachers’ reading groups nationally in partnership with a number of children’s book organisations, including Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) and Just Imagine.

Reading Teachers=Reading Pupils was launched three years ago in Gloucestershire to help teachers engage or re-engage with children’s books.

Cheltenham will now work with CLPE, Just Imagine, Peters and Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books, to work with schools across the UK, with the aim that participating teachers will spread a love of reading to their pupils and the wider school community.

Ali Mawle, education director at Cheltenham Festivals, said: “We know that reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success. Through our work with more than 70 primary schools in Gloucestershire we are seeing first- hand the incredible impact Reading Teachers=Reading Pupils is having, not just in individual classrooms but throughout the school.”

The Reading Teachers=Reading Pupils programme will be available in July, with strategic partners and facilitators being recruited in May. It is supported by the Thirty Percy Foundation, The Summerfield Charitable Trust and The Unwin Charitable Trust.