Furry friends help Erdington youngsters fall in love with reading

An Erdington primary school is aiming to open a new chapter of reading enjoyment for its pupils – and it has enlisted an army of teddy bears to help make it happen.

Osborne Primary School, which is part of the respected Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, is aiming to revitalise reading at the site in Osborne Road, with a bigger, refurbished library being created with new books on its shelves.

And lucky children who have just joined the Reception class at the Osborne Road school have each received a ‘Reading Buddy’ – a knitted teddy bear – and a new book to read to their fluffy friend.

The Reading Buddies were knitted by volunteers, including staff member Kim Woodcock, and come labelled with a poem telling the children that they like to be read to.

Headteacher Lisa Dodd said:

“We are trying to develop a real culture and love of reading at school and the Reading Buddies are a great way to get our youngest children to engage with books.

“Lots of our children don’t have wide access to books so the buddies are a fun way to start them off on their school journey as they join us in Reception.

“We are doing lots of work in the school right now with the intention of revitalising reading. We have a librarian working with us, who is sorting out all our books in school and refreshing our library.

“We have had to move the library into a new room, so we saw it as an opportunity to have a rethink and create something special.

“It will have new shelving and it will look and feel really nice, with books that really appeal to the children. Ultimately, we want parents to be able to come in after school hours to use the school library with their children too – as a community resource.”

The Reading Buddies are proving a real hit with the Reception children, who are also benefitting from new books that have been donated to the school.

Mrs Dodd said:

“I put together a wish list of some of the books we would like, and we were blown away by the response once we shared it with the community.

“We have had people donating books who have nothing to do with the school at all, it has been amazing. It meant that every Reception child could have a Reading Buddy and a book of their own to take home.”

So many Buddies were created by volunteers that some now live permanently in the Reception classroom, waiting patiently in baskets near the bookshelves for youngsters to read them a story.

Mrs Dodd added: “You often go in there and see children snuggled up on the sofa reading to one of the teddies. It gives them a purpose to read and will hopefully be the start of a lifetime of reading for them.

“We’re very grateful to all the volunteers who created them and the generous people who donated books. They have made a real difference to our children.”

Caption:

The ‘Reading Buddies’ were knitted by volunteers for Reception pupils at Erdington’s Osborne Primary School.