GoRead’s Summer Readathon Tackles Lost Learning by Getting Children Reading

During the school summer holidays, GoRead will be running its yearly Summer Readathon competition, with the aim of encouraging children to read more outside the classroom. The school that reads the most during the period wins a £250 book voucher, with various prizes for runners up, allowing schools to continue inspiring the next generation of readers and writers.The competition helps children avoid losing confidence and knowledge over the summer break, making it easier for teachers to get their students back into focus upon the start of term.

The Summer Readathon, organised by GoRead, will be running from the 22nd July to the 5th September. There will be a range of activities and competitions for children and families to be involved in throughout the summer.

To participate, children just need to log what they’ve read during the summer break via the GoRead app or online platform. The competition is open to all schools who currently use GoRead. The winning schools, alongside the top families and children in the competition, will be announced in early September.

Benefits of the Summer Readathon

GoRead has organised the Summer Readathon to promote children to read outside of the curriculum, and aims to help them with their literacy during the holidays.

As well as advancing their learning, reading outside the classroom has many benefits. According to Literacy Trust, 59% of children stated that reading during the lockdown ‘’made them feel better’’ and 50% said it ‘‘inspired them to think about the future.’’ In addition, as lockdown encouraged children to read more outside of the classroom, studies found that children’s enjoyment of reading increased, highlighting the benefits of reading beyond the curriculum. The After School Alliance also stated that children who read more make the ‘’best spellers, writers, and thinkers.’’

The Readathon also benefits teachers. With children continuing to engage their literacy skills outside of the classroom, it eases the process for teachers of getting children to regain focus upon the start of the new term.

Jenny Byrne, teacher at SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary, said:

‘’Our staff have been involved in every GoReadathon since it started, and we have seen a good impact on reading behaviour, broadening of reading material, improved motivation to read and an increase in parental engagement in their child’s reading. Our school is a former winner of the GoReadathon and we can’t wait to get involved this summer.”

Year 5 pupil at SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary school said:

‘’I log my own reading every day, I love reading and it is brilliant that each log will get points for the competition. Our school shows where we are on the leaderboard to see if we can do even better next week.’

GoRead is an online platform and app that encourages children and parents to monitor their children’s reading progress. GoRead is a part of the Squirrel Learning and BW Walch family, which aims to support schools through innovative approaches to learning via technology.

For more information about GoRead, visit http://go-read.co.uk/