Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils – Applications now open

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be working with Cheltenham Festivals once again as part of their Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils (RTRP) programme.

We’ll be delivering the Festival’s teacher reading groups for the North West network, where we hope to reignite a love of reading for pleasure amongst teachers and staff.

Annie Lord, Head of Children & Young People at The Reader said: “We are delighted to be working with Cheltenham Festivals Reading Teacher = Reading Pupils for this academic year. Sharing the best quality children’s literature within our school settings is key to supporting our young people’s wellbeing and connection to the wider world.

“At The Reader, we are thrilled to nurture and support our local community of teachers to enable meaningful exploration and sharing through a range of books.”

We’ll be hosting a primary RTRP programme which is open to all Key Stage 2 teachers. As the selected novels are most appropriate for Year 5/6 pupils, priority is given to teachers of these year groups. To include as many schools as possible, places are limited to two teachers per school.

All sessions will be led by members of our team at The Reader. The group is free to attend, and the shared resources are distributed throughout the year along with two copies of each of the five titles.

Key dates and information for 2021:

Applications: Now open

Group Leader: Roxanne Vella, Storybarn Coordinator
Meeting locations: The Storybarn, Calderstones Park, Liverpool (half-termly from 4.30pm - 6pm)

North West Launch: Thursday, 21 October 2021
Book 1: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Book 2: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Book 3: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Book 4: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Book 5: Thursday, 9 June 2022

Sharing Session: July 2022 (date TBC)

Cheltenham Festivals RTRP programme is delivered in partnership with like-minded organisations across the UK including Book Council of Wales, Bradford Literature Festival, Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), English and Media Centre, Just Imagine, National Literacy Trust, KEAP (The Writers’ Block), Peters, Seven Stories the National Centre for Children's Books, The Reader, The Story Museum and Wigtown Festival Company. New for 2021, programme is also open to independent partners in the UK and internationally.

For more information about this programme and to register to take part, please visit Cheltenham Festivals website.

This programme is supported by Arts Council England, Thirty Percy and the Unwin Charitable Trust.