Primary school pupils from Robert Douglas Memorial School in Perth, experienced “The World of Norm” this week, following a visit from leading children’s author, Jonathan Meres.
The visit was a prize won by the school after it participated in ScottishPower’s Swap Shop 2012, an initiative which aims to promote reading whilst raising money for charity at the same time.
Edinburgh-based author, Jonathan Meres, whose performance-based presentations were one of the highlights of the children’s programme at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, visited the pupils from Primary 4 and 5 to talk about his latest series, “The World of Norm”.
Jonathan Meres used the books’ irreverent and humorous take on family life, friendships and school, to inspire literacy and creativity amongst the children, as well as introduce them to a great read which many could relate to.
ScottishPower’s Swap Shop initiative, in partnership with the Edinburgh International Book Festival is now in its fourth year, encouraging children to recycle their old books by swapping them with their classmates in exchange for a small donation.
This year’s Swap Shop raised £922.63, £185 of which was raised by the winning Robert Douglas Memorial School. The proceeds have been donated once again to support Aberlour Child Care Trust, which helps over 6,000 vulnerable children and young people in Scotland each year.
Jonathan Meres, author, said: “It was a great opportunity for me to visit Robert Douglas Memorial School and meet such an enthusiastic group of children. Hopefully I demonstrated that books and authors are anything but 'boring’. It would be nice to think I may have sparked a bit of creativity too!
“The Swap Shop initiative is a good way to encourage young people to read books by an eclectic range of authors and in various genres. It was a real privilege to be chosen as the visiting author.”
Dugald F Campbell, Headteacher at Robert Douglas Memorial School, said: "Our pupils were so pleased to have been selected as the winning school in ScottishPower's Swap Shop 2012 and the author visit was a wonderful experience for everyone involved.
"Participating in the initiative has taught the pupils lessons on many different levels, improving their literacy skills and increasing their environmental awareness at the same time as giving a little something back."
Ann Loughrey, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at ScottishPower, said: “The Swap Shop initiative is an excellent way for young people to improve their reading skills whilst also raising money for an extremely worthwhile cause.
“We would like to give thanks to all the primary school pupils who participated in this year’s Swap Shop, as well as congratulate those at Robert Douglas Memorial School. The visit from Jonathan Meres was a fantastic success which was thoroughly enjoyed by pupils and staff alike.”
Sadie McKinlay, Sponsorship and Development Manager at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: “ScottishPower’s provision of this initiative is fundamental in allowing us to promote the importance of literacy to the next generation.
“It is also a great opportunity for young people to meet a celebrated author, such as Jonathan Meres, who was one of our most popular children’s authors at this year’s Book Festival.”
For background information on ScottishPower, please visit www.scottishpower.com. For information about Aberlour, visit www.aberlour.org.uk and for information on the Edinburgh International Book Festival, log onto www.edbookfest.co.uk
Issued by The BIG Partnership on behalf of ScottishPower.
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Kay McCarthy
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