Firth Primary is the first in Orkney to be named a “Reading School”

Firth Primary has become the first school in Orkney to be given the prestigious Reading School accreditation by the Scottish Book Trust. 

The successful Reading Schools programme, developed by Scotland’s national charity changing lives with reading and writing, supports schools to build a reading culture where every pupil is encouraged to feed their imagination through books.  

Reading for pleasure is central to supporting wellbeing, improving attainment across the curriculum, and boosting critical thinking, creativity, empathy and resilience.  

Firth Primary is one of over 400 schools in Scotland to have been accredited through the programme and they received their trophy from author Vivian French, this year’s Reading Schools’ Ambassador for primary schools.  

Having achieved the first level, the school is now working towards progressing to silver status. The third, and top level, to be achieved is gold status.  

Lucy Clements, Primary 6/7 class teacher at Firth Primary said: ‘We are delighted to be recognised as the first accredited Reading School in Orkney, and we’re incredibly proud of our Reading Ambassadors who have worked really hard to encourage reading for pleasure across the school. 

‘We are also proud of our redevelopment of the school library, and initiatives like the reading café on World Book Day, our classroom reading areas and book-themed displays, all of which have contributed to us achieving this status.” 

 Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “Well done to Firth Primary for achieving the honour of being the first school in Orkney to be accredited as a Reading School.  

“This is a fantastic accomplishment for pupils and teachers alike, and achieving this status is a way of demonstrating a school’s commitment to developing vibrant reading cultures and the many benefits this brings.”