Acorn Book Club initially worked with Holbeach Primary School in 2018 when they donated 250 books to their Christmas Jamboree.
Co-chair of the school PTA, Clare Marks, stayed in touch with Acorn’s Emma Fox, and when Clare mentioned their desire to provide children access to books within their new sensory garden, the ABC were all ears!
On 20th January, the ABC team spent the day at the vibrant Catford school, donating over 700 books along with colourful furnishings to help create a charming outdoor reading space. Storytelling sessions were held by Julia Gwynne and every pupil in the school was encouraged to imagine their own ending to the childhood classic ‘Jack and The Beanstalk’. Ideas came flooding in throughout the day – ‘a haunted house full of ghosts’, ‘a deep river full of beans that make you grow and grow’, and ‘a magical place with books that can talk’ to name a few!
After exploring the fantastic new book collection during their morning playtime, storytelling sessions were held with Years 1 and 3. Julia captivated pupils with the lesser known tales of African Folklore ‘Anansi’ and Greek Myth ‘Persephone’ – both inspired by the animal and nature theme of the sensory garden. She told us ‘It’s so inspiring to see the children engaged in reading and I have no doubt that the donation made by the Acorn Book Club today will have a huge impact on all pupils here.’
Assistant Head Teacher, Karen Robertson, said ‘We place a huge emphasis on reading here at Holbeach, but due to budgetary constraints we have no facility for pupils to read outside during break times. There is now a beautiful space allocated to reading for pleasure and as an engaging outdoor space to be used for classes – the work of Acorn Book Club has been invaluable.’
Acorn Book Club have big plans for 2020; to revolutionise free access to quality books and reading spaces in local schools, but they depend on the generosity of the public who donate hundreds of books to Acorn Group offices every week.
For more information about how you can get involved, or to find your nearest drop-off point, visit acornbookclub.co.uk
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