School Libraries> Examples of Effective Practice > Buckie High School, The Moray Council

Buckie High School and associated primary schools

Book Talk

Seeking to promote a reading culture, all pupils in S1 and S2 visit the library monthly for a book talk by the librarian. In S1 the focus is introducing genres, with a range of themes, storytelling and poetry sessions. The programme in S2 looks at the work of individual authors with pupils following themes such as war, including Theresa Breslin’s novel Remembrance, Michael Morpugo’s Private Peaceful and poetry by Owen and Sassoon. This is enhanced by viewing photographs from World War I and pupils from the higher History class have shared their experiences of World War I sites in Belgium.

There is an annual programme of author visits, so the S2 class had a visit from Theresa Breslin whilst studying her novel. Various strategies are used to keep S3 and 4 pupils reading and Higher English and Intermediate 2 classes receive individual advice on the choice of text for personal study. Older pupils have opportunities to meet authors or to participate in creative writing sessions. The planned programme has had a significant impact on reading habits throughout the school.

Introduction to the Library

All Primary 7 pupils from the associated schools group visit the library in the November prior to their transition into secondary education. They take part in a general introduction to the library, including some poetry reading and creative writing. A follow-up visit takes place in February where pupils design book cover for their favourite book and are asked to give a short presentation on why they liked the book and what inspired the design.

During the third visit in April, prizes are awarded for the best entries from each school and this is combined with an author visit or film show. The programme developed last year with a group of 15 P7s visiting the library on Friday afternoons to extend their reading. All these initiatives have proved popular with primary school staff and pupils and have made the pupils more confident library users in S1.