Members of the Portlaoise College Wellread Committee attended the Wellread National Awards this week where their good work was honoured.
At this ceremony, schools from around the country gathered to be commended for initiatives relating to reading and writing various genres of literature.
As first time recipients of the award in this school, the committee is comprised of members of the English Department; Mr. Travers and Mr. Fitzpatrick, alongside student representatives from various year groups.
Over the course of a two-year period, they have been working with the wider school community to promote literacy and reading for pleasure under the National Wellread Programme.
The Wellread National Award is a literacy initiative supported by the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and aims to promote the development of a reading culture in school communities.
Research has shown that this supports the personal and academic development of young people, which is something they are passionate about in Portlaoise College.
To be nominated for this award, it requires the involvement of all stakeholders within a school community, including students, teachers, parents, the Board of Management, in reading, writing and associated activities.
The various initiatives were implemented throughout the school and were documented over a two – year period by means of a portfolio.
Furthermore, as part of the Well-Read initiatives, staff and students at Portlaoise College participated in a reading initiative with the residents of Ballard Nursing Home.
While the initiative was due to start much earlier, due to Covid, they were only able to enter the nursing home in the latter part of the year.
This is planned to continue in September with TY students visiting as part of their community engagement.
A spokesperson said: “We would hope that this award would be part of an ongoing milestone that would encourage the wider school community to continually engage in. This award can be maintained by undertaking the portfolio every three years.
“Successful Wellread schools such as Portlaoise College hope to engage with the Readers For Life initiative, whereby they will initiate the portfolio process once again to demonstrate how they have maintained a culture of reading for pleasure amongst the stakeholders in the wider school community.”
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