Library

At The County High School, Leftwich, we understand and agree with the importance placed on raising literacy standards, and as such, believe that our school library is a highly effective resource at the heart of raising attainment in literacy. The library has an increasingly positive impact upon students' literacy levels, enjoyment of reading and access to knowledge. It is a dynamic and engaging resource for all.

The Library is run by Mrs Jeanette Allen.

Opening Hours: 8.30am – 4.30pm Monday to Thursday,  8.30am – 4pm Friday

The Library is a hive of activity throughout the day and offers a warm and welcoming environment where students can read for pleasure, or complete extended learning set by their teachers.

Students have access to the library before and after school, at break and lunch time and during some lessons. We have computers with secure internet access that are a bookable resource, enabling students to complete their tasks.

The library has well-stocked shelves, containing popular fiction, non-fiction and reference titles, with new books added regularly. Daily newspapers and magazines are also purchased for students to read. We ensure that students have a voice which is listened to by the implementation of a ‘Wish List’ which is available at the issue desk. Students can inform Mrs Allen which books they would like to see on the library shelves.

Student volunteers are recruited and trained as library assistants, which we find to be useful in promoting experience of responsibility and enhancing organisational skills.

Competitions are run throughout the year linked with reading and with current events.

So, all in all, the library at The County High School, Leftwich is the place to be!

 

As an integral part of encouraging our students to read for pleasure, we use Accelerated Reader which is a computer program that helps teachers to monitor students’ independent reading practice. It is designed to provide teachers with data to monitor and personalise reading activities. It motivates students to read more, suitably challenging, books and raises literacy standards by diagnosing problem areas and helping to direct on-going reading practice.

Reading Millionaires

How do you become a Millionaire? Read one million words!

Students who have read over a million words this school year belong to a select group of Accelerated Reader Millionaires, and have their names displayed on the library ‘Millionaires Board’. A word count is generated each time a student reads a book and then takes a reading practice quiz online using our Accelerated Reader software.

Certificates are issued along the way to students who have achieved Bronze (250,000 words) and Silver (500,000 words)

Well done to our current ‘Reading Millionaires’!

Bookbuzz is a reading programme from Booktrust, which supports schools to encourage reading for pleasure, independent choice and develop a whole school reading culture. Participating schools give their students the opportunity to choose their own book to keep from a list of 17 titles suitable for 11 – 13-year-olds and selected by a panel of experts. The programme is aimed primarily at Year 7 students but can be extended to children of other ages.

Each year the school participates in the scheme for the new Year 7’s, recognising reading for pleasure as an important life skill, underpinning literacy targets.

Bookworms Club runs each Thursday lunchtime in the Library and provides students who love reading with the opportunity to share their love of books with others in a relaxed and friendly environment.  Over the Academic year, Bookworms shadow The Cheshire Schools’ Book Awards, The Yoto Carnegie Awards and have the opportunity to write reviews on books they have read.

Why come to Bookworms Club?

  • It encourages wider reading
  • It extends students’ communication skills
  • It allows students to talk about and review books
  • It can improve speaking and listening skills; validating their views
  • It compliments their formal learning

The Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children.

It was established by in 1936, in memory of the great Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). Carnegie was a self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA. His experience of using a library as a child led him to resolve that “if ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries.”

Carnegie set up more than 2800 libraries across the English speaking world and, by the time of his death, over half the library authorities in Great Britain had Carnegie libraries. The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children.

First awarded to Arthur Ransome for ‘Pigeon Post’, the winner receives a golden medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice.

The medal is awarded by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.

Carnegie Shadowing

What is the ‘Shadowing’ Scheme?

Children in schools and reading groups are invited to ‘shadow’ (follow) the judging process, reading the titles shortlisted for the medal, writing online reviews, and deciding which books are their favourites. Free resources are available to download from the website, reader activities, plus videos of the shortlisted authors and illustrators talking about their work.

What can you do on the Carnegie Website?

  • View author and illustrator videos
  • Discuss the ‘Talking Points’ for shortlisted titles
  • Interact with other shadowing groups
  • Post your own reviews and comments on shortlisted titles
  • Watch video interviews and read profiles of shortlisted authors and illustrators

What can it do for you as a reader?

  • Enjoy reading and encourages you to read more books
  • Read books that you wouldn’t otherwise read
  • Meet new people through our own shadowing group and related events organised by public libraries
  • Gain knowledge and understanding of other people and different times in history
  • Gain confidence and communication skills through talking about the books and debating for your favourites

The Cheshire Book Award, run each year by the Education Library Service is aimed at fiction written for 11-14 year olds to promote the enjoyment of reading through reading groups in schools. Wherever possible they encourage reading groups to include a diverse cross-section of participants – Librarian, teachers, parents, governors and of course, students!

Books eligible for the award must:

  • Have been published in the past 18 months
  • Still be in print
  • Have been written by an author living in the UK
  • Be a stand-alone read

There will be six months for groups to read all of the shortlisted books and then vote for their favourite title.

The award ceremony takes place in June each year, attended where possible with the nominated authors, where the winner will be announced.

What is the Cheshire Book Quiz?

An interschool competition set up by school librarians to promote reading.

It gives students the opportunity to read a selection of books, discuss them with their friends and group leader, and answer 6 sets of questions on their knowledge of the books. It also tests their general literature knowledge.

Each summer the four school teams with the highest scores meet for the final. A children’s author is invited and the winning team is presented with a cup, which they hold for a year, along with individual book token prizes.

What do you have to do to take part?

Be in Year 7 or Year 8.

Read one ‘set’ book each month from October to March, then complete six rounds of questions based on the set books and general children’s fiction.

Eclipse.net is the school’s engaging online library. Students can access the library anytime, anywhere with the fantastic free imls app, which allows them to hunt for books, find websites and watch videos of authors. They can reserve a book using the app, renew a book and write reviews too.

An interesting feature is something called ‘Who Next’, which is basically an online book, listing 759 writers of children’s fiction with links to each other. So, children read a book by one author and with each name come other authors who write in a similar way thus enabling children the chance to explore other books in a similar genre or theme.

All students have been given their log on details, but if they have any problems in accessing the app, can see Mrs Allen in the library.

World Book Day is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it is the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.

Each year we plan a range of exciting World Book Day events to celebrate, and the library is always a hive of activity with competitions, quizzes and treasure hunts.

The Scholastic Book Club runs every term enabling parents and staff to purchase books at a reduced cost and at the same time, earn free books for our school.

The Teen Book Club leaflets are distributed to students in school – these leaflets and others can be viewed online here:- www.shop.scholastic.co.uk/catalogues

For every £1 spent, CHSL will earn 25p in Scholastic Rewards towards books and all orders will be delivered free to the Library.

There are more discounted books are available to order online for all age groups and are ideal for gifts. Please take a moment to take a look at the website: www.schools.scholastic.co.uk/county

Orders can be placed online however please be aware these will be delivered to the School Library in one shipment. If you have any queries regarding delivery dates, please speak to Mrs Allen.