Pupils from King Edward’s Senior and Junior Schools were named the South West’s top readers after winning the regional heats of the National Reading Champions Quiz earlier this week.
The school’s team of Year 6, 7, 8 and 9 pupils went head to head with peers from 68 schools in the area during the heats and now head to the grand final on 24 June to compete with schools from across the UK, all looking to be crowned the National Reading Champions 2021.
The competition, which is in its first year, is led by the National Literacy Trust and funded by the Author’s Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS). It celebrates keen, young readers and champions the important role of teachers and school librarians in promoting reading for pleasure. It comes after National Literacy Trust research revealed that children who enjoy reading have significantly better mental wellbeing than those who don’t[1].
One of the two KES teams participating in the quiz was named champions after showcasing its ability to identify the characters, authors and titles of some of the most well-loved stories. Now it has the chance of competing for the grand trophy and a generous set of book tokens if it win the country’s top spot on June 24.
Henrietta Roberts, Project Manager of the National Reading Champions Quiz, said,“ We are so excited to host the first National Reading Champions Quiz to celebrate young readers across the UK. There is an amazing wealth of literature out there for students to explore and through the quiz we hope to motivate them to read as widely as possible – and to feel proud of their reading knowledge.
“We wish the best of luck to all of the schools competing in the final and look forward to crowning the National Reading Quiz champions of 2021!”
For more information on the National Reading Champions Quiz visit: https://literacytrust.org.uk/events/national-reading-champions-quiz/