Fife project: The 'R' Factor

Fife Council has focused its project on reading for enjoyment (‘The R Factor!’). Pupils are encouraged to read in an engaged way and to work collaboratively as teams. This project aims to increase reading for enjoyment, to encourage pupils to discuss texts, to explore the writer’s craft and to support the transition stages P7-S1.

At the start of the project an audit was carried out of what is already happening with reading for enjoyment programmes for P7 and S1 in the associated schools group.

Reading partners read the same novel and complete a ‘baton’ challenge to be answered by another reading partnership which has also read that novel. The batons contain questions about the novel which have been composed by the pairs. They are then exchanged with other schools. In some cases, baton exchange can be done via email.

It is hoped that the sporting significance of this will attract boys into the project. P7 pupils have visited the secondary school that they are linked with in the baton exchange. They have enjoyed joint author visits and the group hopes to hold a similar event at the end of the project. One baton exchange has already taken place and schools hope to achieve at least one more before the project comes to an end.