BURTON Albion Community Trust have given 300 free, brand-new books and 50 WHSmith vouchers to primary schools in their local area to support young readers as part of an exciting partnership between Premier League Primary Stars and the National Literacy Trust to celebrate World Book Day on 3 March 2022.
The partnership has enabled 27,000 free books to be distributed to schools across England and Wales via 81 professional football club community organisations delivering the Premier League Primary Stars education programme. National Literacy Trust research found that children who own their own books are nearly three times more likely to enjoy reading. Lockdowns have made it difficult for children to access physical books because of school and public library closures, so getting copies of books into the hands of children is more vital than ever.
Since the launch of the Premier League Primary Stars education programme in 2016, the Premier League has distributed 152,000 free books to schoolchildren. Katie Johnson, School Sport Manager from Burton Albion Community Trust said ”It was wonderful to be able to share the books and book vouchers with some of our partner primary schools thanks to our partnership[p with the National Literacy Trust and the Premier League Primary Stars programme. Here at BACT we ran a half term book review competition and we had two very worthy winners – Oscar from Thomas Russell Infant School won the Key Stage 1 competition and Aoife from Richard Clarke First School won the Key Stage 2 competition. They will get the chance to read their books to Billy Brewer and attend a BAFC match in the near future. Also on World Book Day, the National Literacy Trust hosted a fun filled Premier League Primary Stars live event, featuring the authors of Football School (one of last year’s World Book Day titles), Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton. The 30-minute event – The Great Big 2022 World Book Day Footy & Booky Quiz – was hosted by sports presenter Kelly Somers and included a special round of questions set by players from the Premier League, the EFL and the Women’s Super League. What’s more, the brilliant Football School: Terrific Teams, written by Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton is available to read online for free from the National Literacy Trust’s Words for Life website, thanks to publisher Walker Books. Teachers can also access an exciting Premier League Primary Stars World Book Day football-themed challenge with the duo via this page too.
Jim Sells, Sport and Literacy Programme Manager at the National Literacy Trust said: “World Book Day celebrates the power and joy of reading. We know that children who have books at home do better in school, so we are delighted to be able to distribute such an incredible number of books and vouchers to schools across the country with the help of the community organisations at 81 brilliant football clubs.
For this year’s World Book Day, we are challenging as many pupils as possible to join their local library, gaining a lifelong access to books and reading for free! I’d like to thank our partners at World Book Day, WHSmith and Walker Books for making this possible. To download a free copy of Football School: Terrific Teams and to access football-themed activities visit: wordsforlife.org.uk/premierleague
To find out more about Burton Albion Community Trusts literacy programmes in schools, please contact Katie Johnson katie.johnson@burtonalbionct.org
