Going for Gold

The Gold level Reading Schools accreditation is all about sharing your own enthusiasm and expertise through building connections with your local community, carrying out joint projects and sharing the wonderful things you have been doing to build your successful reading culture with them.

When we talk about community engagement(this will open in a new window) in Gold, we are thinking of connections with people beyond the school gates, so local businesses, community groups, sports centres, local charity groups, care homes, the general public etc. We are not generally meaning teachers or parents within your school. You and your learners will know your local community best, and what kinds of groups or community venues exist and might be happy to pair up on a project with you.

Community connection is threaded throughout many of the Gold Key Areas in lots of different ways, with pupils sharing with the community (Key Areas 1.2.2, 3.2.1), teachers connecting and sharing with other schools (1.2.4 and 1.2.5), and shared community engagement, projects and events (1.2.1, 1.3.2, 2.5.1, 2.7.1)

Remember that, even if you are submitting within a year of a previous award, you will still be maintaining the ethos of all Key Areas from Core and Silver levels. This is because Reading Schools is designed to be catalyst for long term and sustainable change, that builds in layers. If you are moving up a level you will be expected to add some comments to let us know how you have sustained your previous Core and Silver actions, or if you’re aiming straight for a Gold accreditation as your first ever award, you will need to include evidence for all Core and Silver Framework actions(this will open in a new window) as well.

Brilliant community ideas from some of our Gold schools

Here are a few lovely Gold-specific ideas we have seen in past years. Not all of these projects cover all key areas, but they might help to inspire or prompt ideas for you and your school.

• One secondary worked with a local Scottish Women’s Institute(this will open in a new window) group to create a community cookbook. They asked the community on social media to suggest recipes, which they then cooked, tasted, and rated in Home Economics. The top recipes were then bound into a book and advertised in the community for sale. Perhaps you could think about local stories to attach to each recipe as well!
• Another school partnered with a local Men’s Shed(this will open in a new window) to create little wooden outdoor community lending libraries which were placed in various places in their town. You might extend this by asking the community to share feedback on your school socials or set up an account to share what books you might be able to discover in the lending library that week.
• A Reading Leadership Group shared what they had been up to with book reviews placed in collaboration with a local village bus shelter. They had QR codes that community members could scan while they waited, which led to a pupil book review or recommendation of a reading activity. Community members could leave a comment and their own book recommendations too.
• Some schools have made a lending library inside a community venue, such as a local hairdressers or community café. People could read books while they had their hair done, or were eating, and then take away books or bring in books to share themselves.
• Many schools have developed intergenerational partnerships with local care homes, where they go in on a regular basis to read books and share stories with the residents. This is often combined with a public library partnership, to source reading material of interest to the residents.
• One school put up posters, made by pupils, in a local community sports venue that showcased all the things they had been up to and shared why reading for pleasure was so important.
• Some pupils have led Book Fairies(this will open in a new window) and similar projects, where they hide free books in community spaces for members of the public to find. This could also include a QR or contact details so finders can say who they are, where they found it and what they think of the book.
• Another fun idea was to create Book Trails or book related Treasure Hunts around the town with interactive posters you can follow. One trail led to the local library where the final clue was found.
• A cluster of schools in Perth and Kinross worked together to establish an inclusive book award(this will open in a new window), which met Core, Silver and Gold level requirements across their individual settings!
• Both primary and secondary schools have found success in running staff, parent/carer and learner shared book groups – occasionally culminating in author or book festival visits to celebrate their shared interests! These can work in-person, if you are able to host your community in your school or library after hours, or online – either as live sessions, or by setting up a forum area where everyone can contribute their thoughts at convenient times.

Handy hints for working on your Gold actions

We hope you now feel ready to embark on your Reading Schools Gold accreditation, with some ideas from our community(this will open in a new window) to inspire your own journey.

Log in to view or start your Gold Action Plan now