ON June 28, approximately 150 year 6 boys experienced a very different approach to reading as part of their induction day at Barry Comprehensive.

Boys experienced the vibrant atmosphere of a festival as they browsed at the book fair, enjoyed the music contributions of the resident house band, ‘Back to November’, chatted with Katherine Owen, the town librarian, and took part in a range of book related games, led by Mrs Turnbull and Mrs Beckett.

The atrium benefited from a festival makeover, thanks to the hard work of the art department and their book-themed bunting, some beautiful art work and an abundance of greenery.

The boys then had the exciting opportunity of a ‘day to night’ festival experience, as the school hall was transformed into a campsite, with tents, torches and a version of a camp fire. Year 12 and year 10 students then read with the year 6 boys, sharing books. It was a very special experience as students read to each other, by torchlight, really escaping into the world of fiction. This was the key idea behind this festival experience: a crucial element in developing a love of reading is the one-to-one support and the opportunity to connect with someone else over a reading experience. Despite very busy lives, parents, teachers and staff must find the time to share books, showing children how books can open worlds to us. The atmosphere created in the night-time festival experience allowed all to feel this happening, creating a magical time for the year 6 boys.

Year 6 students really enjoyed the experience and were also pleased to take home their ‘festival’ book.

Barry Comprehensive School would like to thank Waterstones, Cardiff, for their generous donations of Cressida Cowell books (Hiccup has been a huge hit with so many children) and The Works, Barry, for their support. The community support here meant that every child had a free book, so could continue their reading (with or without torchlight).

Katherine Owen from Barry Library also gave out literature on the range of reading projects run by the town library. This is an excellent facility and the schemes really appeal to a wide range of learners.

Barry Comprehensive School looks forward to welcoming its new students in September and are keen to ask ‘what happened next?’ in their campsite books, and in their reading habits generally… It’s only just started.