Virtual Readathon
While our students are at home, we wanted to do something a bit different and special to reach out to them. We decided that there could be no more important or enjoyable way of doing this than through reading. As a result, our teachers are working hard to make recordings of stories, books and poems so that we can read aloud to students ‘virtually’.
We all want our students to experience the joy of reading for pleasure, and we know that being read to can be a very important part of a young person’s enjoyment of reading. We also want our students to see that reading comes into every part of life, and that it is important to every teacher, and in every subject.
The first story being read is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The Little Prince is loved by millions of people and has been translated into more languages than any other non-religious book. It was written for both children and adults to enjoy. It’s a book that every French person knows and it has been said that it is impossible to understand France and the French properly until you have read ‘The Little Prince’.
Students and parents who wish to listen should log into Show My Homework, where they will find that the story has been shared with every student.
In these unusual times, when we cannot meet in person, we very much hope that our students will ‘gather’ virtually to hear their teachers reading to them.
Virtual Readathon Update – May 2020
After the extremely popular reading of ‘The Little Prince’, our teachers have been busy recording a whole range of books, stories, poems and non-fiction texts. Our students have told us just how much they have enjoyed listening to the virtual readathon while they have been at home, and our teachers have really enjoyed creating the recordings for them.
Here is a selection of texts that students have enjoyed to date:
 'Words, by Edward Thomas |  'Macavity', the Mystery Cat, by T.S. Eliot |  'The Tyger', by William Blake |  'Home - Thoughts from Abroad', by Robert Browning. |
 • We're All Going On A Bear Hunt, by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury |  'Clockwork',, by Philip Pullman |  'Kidnapped', by Robert Louis Stevenson |  'How do Lizards Walk Upside Down?' from New Scientist, May 2020 |