The reading programme that motivates, rewards and is fun!

After the last few years of disruption to schools and children, it’s now more important than ever to focus on children’s literacy levels; especially for those who have missed so much. Without adequate levels of literacy, children transitioning to secondary school will simply be left behind - if they can’t read the maths problem they can’t do the maths problem. But getting children engaged in reading can be a real challenge.

Buster’s Book Club is a reading initiative that aims to remove some of these challenges by giving children the choice to read what they want to read. “Reading for Pleasure” is of course at the heart of every reading programme but when children are told what they have to read - many of them may be resistant and this often results in doing more harm than good.

Buster’s Book Club recognises that every child is different - some love Harry Potter but others are fascinated by Dinosaurs, some love to cook and others are obsessed with sport. That’s why at the heart of Buster’s Book Club parents, carers and guardians are asked to read whatever their child wants to read one night a week - they choose and suddenly it’s not a chore it’s actually fun. There are no set targets as every minute counts and even if your child only reads 5 minutes one week get them to read 6 minutes the next week and celebrate their achievement.

Another aspect of Buster’s Book Club is the friendly competition element. Class year groups compete with each other to see who can record the most minutes to win a trophy. Children in each class are rewarded with a Star Reader for the biggest improvement. It promotes teamwork and cohesion with everyone pulling together and for those children who struggle to read at home it’s the perfect way to introduce “buddy reading” to make sure they are not excluded.

Every school in Kent and Medway who records their minutes also has the chance to win some great prizes for their school from story times with Phil Gallagher, who is CBeebies Mister Maker, book bundles, bean bags, visits from authors and so much more.
But the best part of Buster’s Book Club is that it is flexible and much more cost effective than many of the “accelerated reading” initiatives that are out there (Buster’s Book Club costs approximately £1.50 per pupil per year) - and with things the way they are anything that will help with the ever decreasing school budgets has to be a good thing.

If you’d like to find out more about Buster’s Book Club visit the KM Charity Team website