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By The Duchess's High School Trust
This project will promote reading for pleasure across our community: giving more children the opportunity to enjoy the power of a good story and to access literature relevant to today’s world.
This project will be based at the Duchess's Community High School (DCHS). The pandemic has had significant impact on children’s literacy with more students entering secondary school with poor skills in reading. Our project aims to encourage a love of reading by supporting reading in the wider community. Our belief is that if children have access to books for fun and are supported by role models who love books, then reading will become more accessible to them. This project will ensure students at DCHS can access books at home and in the community. It will establish new reading for pleasure activities and promote a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, including books by authors of colour and LGBTQI+ authors. It will provide opportunities for children to read out loud and to listen to stories being read to them. In short, this project will encourage the community to share a love of reading and to support our children to develop essential literacy skills.
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
By providing new reading opportunities and promoting reading for pleasure in the community, our aim is that more children and young people will find a love of reading. The direct consequence of this will be that literacy skills will increase, giving DCHS students and others more chances to fulfil their potential. This project will bring new cultural opportunities to rural communities in north Northumberland by bringing stories and literature to life via visiting authors and performances. The project will also build stronger links in the community, enabling people across the DCHS catchment to support each other; encouraging volunteers to support reading schemes in school and also enabling school students to share reading in the community.
Steps to get it done:
This project will be based in the Duchess’s Community High School but it is additional to the school’s statutory responsibilities. It focuses on supporting and promoting reading which will embed skills and develop literacy to benefit student attainment in all subjects but it will achieve this via a community approach, working closely with organisations and individuals in our community to support our young people. In the last two years, children’s education has been disrupted like never before. It is essential that we now act as a community to provide new opportunities which support learning and rebuild the key skills which have been lost.
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Whoop, 20 people have pledged since fundraising began!
Thank you to everyone who has donated to support this project so far. The Open Book Project will have a lasting impact in the wider school community. We want to ensure that all students in our school have the opportunity to read a wide variety of literature and create an environment whereby students thrive in reading. We are extremely grateful to our community for helping us bring this project to life. James Wilson and Alan Rogers, Co-Headteachers, Duchess's Community High School
How will the money be spent?Total £9,237
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Overfunding
This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:
Total £9,237
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VolunteerThe Duchess’s High School Trust was established to support the education and development of 1400 students at the Duchess’s Community High School (DCHS) and to provide facilities and resources which would not otherwise be available. The Trust was dormant for a number of years but in 2018 it was reinvigorated with a new board of trustees appointed in 2020 to rebuild activity and develop new projects for the benefit of the school and wider community. Over the last year, we have, more than ever, become convinced of the need for our charity in delivering activities, within school but additional to the school’s statutory responsibilities, which support young people in our rural community.
Our charity works in collaboration with DCHS to develop new initiatives, access funding and seek partnership support for projects that fulfil our charitable objects and enable access to activities which benefit pupil wellbeing, enrich the school experience and create new opportunities to learn. In a more urban setting, many of these activities would often be offered in the community but, in rural Northumberland, it is essential that activities are hosted by the school and during the school day to ensure that all pupils, even those who live in the most rural and isolated villages, have access. By working in close partnership with DCHS we are an inclusive charity, benefiting 1400 young people.
Our priorities are to facilitate activities which
1. Remove barriers to learning
2. Provide new learning opportunities
3. Enhance the learning environment
In 2022 we are focused on supporting a return to normal following two extremely disrupted years of education for our young people. This will include increasing lunchtime provision so that students can access a range of sporting, recreational, social and cultural activities during the school day; bringing exceptional cultural learning experiences to Alnwick (e.g. visiting shows, theatre, authors, musicians and other experiences which would usually involve travelling to Newcastle, Durham, Edinburgh or further afield); continuing our breakfast provision; facilitating a return to sporting activities; and providing more digital equipment to build on best practice developed in lockdown.
All activities supported by the DCHS Trust are in addition to any statutory responsibilities and would not be possible without additional funding.
Project Owner: The Duchess's High School Trust The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.
