At Prescot Primary & Nursery School, we want every child to develop a love of books and reading that lasts a lifetime. Reading opens doors to new worlds, develops imagination and vocabulary, builds knowledge and helps children to understand themselves and others. Quite simply, we believe that being a confident, enthusiastic reader helps to empower children today and prepare them for tomorrow.
We are proud to have a fully stocked school library, providing children with access to a wide and varied collection of high-quality books. Our library supports our Accelerated Reader programme, enabling children to choose books that are appropriately matched to their reading development while still giving them plenty of opportunity to follow their own interests and discover new authors, genres and subjects.
Importantly, our library is more than somewhere to store books. It is a quiet, welcoming space dedicated to reading, where children can browse shelves, explore different books and take time to make their own choices.
We recognise how important this is for our children, particularly when there are limited libraries and quality bookshops within our local area. We want every child, regardless of their circumstances, to have regular access to an exciting range of books and to experience the pleasure of simply browsing a well-stocked library.
Technology helps our children to take responsibility for their own reading. Children can use their iPads to borrow and return books through Libresoft, our trusted school library management system. This makes visiting the library an independent experience and helps children to develop positive routines around choosing, borrowing, reading and returning books.
Our use of technology never replaces the importance of the book itself. Instead, it helps make our library accessible and easy to use, allowing children to spend more time doing what matters most – finding great books and reading them!
Our children also play an important role in making our library successful. Our Pupil Reading Champions help to look after the library, keep books organised and ensure that it remains an inviting space for everyone.
They also help us to identify and promote Recommended Reads, sharing their enthusiasm for books with other pupils and helping children discover something new. Pupil recommendations give children a genuine voice in our reading culture – because sometimes the very best person to recommend a brilliant book is another child!
Our ambition goes beyond teaching children how to read. We want children to want to read.
By providing a dedicated library, carefully chosen books, opportunities for independent choice, pupil leadership and easy access to reading materials, we aim to make books a visible and valued part of everyday school life.
Whether a child is discovering a favourite author, becoming absorbed in a novel, finding out about something that fascinates them or simply enjoying a few peaceful minutes with a book, we want our library to be a place where a lifelong love of reading can begin.
At Prescot Primary & Nursery School, books matter – and every child deserves the opportunity to become a reader.