Oxfam Book Partnership.
We are incredibly pleased to announce our recent partnership with Oxfam Bookstore in Brigg! Our mission is to increase reading abilities across all of our schools and to boost this we have acquired over 220 books from the local charity bookstore.
Clearing much of the charity shops shelves, Tamsin Bennett, one of our Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo) here at Castles Futures, said:
“As the school has been working with limited resources and budget, an online reading package was being considered to help our students to read. The costs of this were spiralling, but ideally, we wanted students to experience reading real books instead of spending more time online. Some of our students don’t possess a single book at home, so having something physical to read was very important.
“Our students have a wide range of needs and are often either non-readers or reading at a level below that expected of their age. For that reason, we desperately needed a diverse range of interesting books, both fiction and non-fiction, to suit a broad range of abilities and with great illustrations and imagery.”
Knowing volunteers at the shop, Tamsin contacted the Oxfam Brigg Books Manager (who coincidentally has the surname Castle). Tamsin enquired if they might stock any youth fiction and arranged to visit with £150 budget. On arriving, Tamsin was blown away by the range and quality available and, instead of leaving with a handful of books, managed to purchase six large containers of literature!
Tamsin continued:
“We were delighted to find the shelves full to the brim of nearly new, great quality children’s books, stories, and teenage fiction – Horrible Histories, The Hunger Games, Marvel comics still in their wrappers, Roald Dahl stories, through to dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Oxfam also had a great deal where, for every four books bought, a free book was given too. Owing to this great value, we cleared some of the shelves and the stockroom too. Not only do we now have an amazing library to build on, but we also helped give vital funding to Oxfam.
“The children and staff have been so excited since we brought the books back. I asked one student before I went, what his dream book would be. He said anything on motorbikes. We found a beautifully illustrated book on just that topic, and when I gave it to him, he gasped and said, “I can learn to read now!”. It made me quite emotional, as it was like I’d given him the world. He wants to leave it in school for safekeeping, it’s so precious to him. The students are gaining a newfound respect for books and a joy for reading which is a fundamental life-skill.”
The deal forms what we hope will be a long and fruitful relationship for both parties. Neil Castle, Manager at Oxfam Brigg Books, said:
“We were more than happy when we got the call to help supply Castles Futures with children’s books. I knew we would have exactly what they needed thanks to the huge generosity of our donors who bring us plenty of great books in as good-as-new condition. Our shop volunteers had a wonderful time helping Tamsin and her colleagues select what they needed.”
The books have now been sorted into categories and each student is being encouraged to read and earn a series of rewards. The scheme is being piloted over the remainder of the current term, ready for reading to be further embedded across the school from September.
Laminated posters have been put up outside school classrooms and offices, sharing each staff member’s favourite book and why it was chosen by them, further fostering a universal passion for reading.
More books are still being accepted to enhance the school library. Please contact Tamsin Bennett to donate any good quality second-hand children’s and teenage literature you would like to donate : TamsinBennett@castleseducation.co.uk
