- Peter Grant
LOCAL MP VISITS SCHOOL TO LEARN ABOUT WORK TO IMPROVE LITERACY
Glenrothes & Central Fife MP has visited Glenrothes High School to hear about the work being done to encourage pupils of all ages to develop their reading skills. In the run up to World Book Day, Peter Grant MP met pupils who help to run a weekly Film Club, Book Club and Comic Club where reading is an important part of their activities, as well as senior pupils who give up their time to support younger pupils whose reading skills have fallen behind.
Head Teacher Avril McNeill and Principal Teachers Graeme Keir and Grant Rintoul were on hand to show how the school is using Scottish Government PEF (Pupil Equity Fund) funding to make a real difference to young people’s reading skills.
Commenting during the visit, Peter Grant said:
“It’s impressive to see the work that school staff are putting in to ensure all of the pupils here are achieving the best they can, but it’s especially inspiring to see the young people themselves taking the lead and organising and attending groups such as Book Club and Film Club in their spare time.
“There are studies that suggest that reading can be more powerful than a person’s socio-economic background when determining how successful someone is in later life. I’ve no doubt that encouraging young people to read a wide variety of material, and to think and talk about what they’ve read, is a powerful way of helping the prepare for whatever life might bring. This is clearly something Glenrothes High School recognises, which is why they’re doing all they can to improve the chances for the next generation.”
Avril McNeill, Head Teacher of Glenrothes High School added:
“We are working extremely hard to create a reading culture at Glenrothes High School in order to raise attainment, help bridge the poverty-related attainment gap and close the vocabulary gap. Our English Department have invited several poets and authors to assist Senior pupils with folios, whilst engaging younger pupils with slam poetry and developing book groups, book club and film club to encourage reading
for pleasure and discussion of literature. We have revamped our school library to include lots of new titles and rewarded our most dedicated readers with a Book Café for World Book Day. We want our young people to make the best use of our library and are wholly committed to improving learners’ literacy, vocabulary and life chances.”