Local school accomplishes record for books read by learners

With the lack of interest in reading, the King’s School Discovery started a Read-a-Thon to encourage their learners to read with comprehension.

Mariëtte Coetzee, the school librarian explained: “We realised our society has a great need to read with comprehension, and as reading is done in every aspect of our lives as adults, it is of utmost importance that children learn to love it as soon as possible.”

During term three the school had a Read-a-Thon on Bingo sheets. The children had to read a book and then complete a row on the Bingo Sheet with the books they’ve read. The teachers assisted by asking the children questions about the books they had read. Further, they also added activities such as book reviews and creating advertisements for the books to the lesson plan.

The teachers would then mark off a block on the Bingo sheet as read.

“Our learners lived up to the challenge and exceeded all expectations,” said Mariëtte.

She noted when the school was started in 2019, they only had a few books. After the pandemic, the learners had difficulty being motivated to read with comprehension. She continued that social media, streaming of shows and movies, and gaming have made it difficult to explain to learners the importance of reading. Mariëttee then came up with the idea of starting a school library, to create a safe place for the learners to sit and read for enjoyment or do research.

She added the initiative was made possible by various sponsors who donated books, including Residentia Ons Huis, Trafalgar Square, and Exclusive Books Clearwater Mall as well as the mentorship of Unisa Library together with Florida and Horizon View libraries.

“The school is a phenomenal success that inspires learners to read for both research and entertainment. It is awesome to see a learner discover and then enjoy reading and learning new things,” she said.

The winners for the Read-a-Thon from grades 1–3 were Reign Price, who received the first prize, Kaiden Ndlovu, Jared Rose, Levy Strevens and Channah Coetzee. The grades 4–6 winners were Karabo Mabote, who was also the overall winner with the most books read in the school, Kganya Dithebe and Oratile Xaba. The high school winners were Elaine Chihata, who won the first prize, Les Junior Magoro, Kgalalelo Lemao, Ompha Nevhutalu, Anthonia Enweremadu, Hlelo Ngutshana and Keri Tachi.

“Reading is exceptionally important for personal development, and to the social and economic welfare of our country. It allows us to learn about others, about history and all aiding with cognitive skill development, creativity, and development of critical thinking. We continue to strive to develop our learners into informed adults, those that must be able to read with comprehension,” added André Berrangé, the school principal.

“Reading empowers learners in all their subjects, as all subjects have a language component. We are planning to do a lot more reading for entertainment in our school,” Mariëtte concluded.