11 September 2018

The First Minister’s Reading Challenge is now open to all pupils across primary and secondary schools in Scotland.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched the third year of the challenge at Renfrew High School, one of the secondary schools that took part in a pilot last year.

A very proud afternoon as we welcomed First Minister @NicolaSturgeon to the school.
We were very proud to share our experience as a pilot school for the @FMReadChallenge pic.twitter.com/UIZo7YtWtx

— Renfrew High School (@renfrew_high) September 10, 2018

She met the pupils who were involved in the challenge last year and was shown the graphic novel they produced.

FM @NicolaSturgeon visited @renfrew_high as the @FMReadChallenge opened to all pupils across primary and secondary schools in Scotland: https://t.co/n5AEeEssyB pic.twitter.com/Xpp7Q2sUxc

— First Minister (@ScotGovFM) September 10, 2018

The First Minister said:

I set up the First Minister’s Reading Challenge to instil a love of reading from an early age. Reading not only opens up a whole new world of adventure, but also helps develop and improve children’s literacy.

“The evaluation of the programme showed it has been well received by pupils, schools and parents in primary schools.   It is important we build on that enthusiasm and encourage young people to continue reading as they progress through their education into secondary school.

“Registration for this year’s challenge is now open and I’m looking forward to seeing pupils from P1 to S6 getting involved.”

Libraries and community groups can also now register to take part in the challenge which has been running in primary schools since 2016 and is delivered by Scottish Book Trust.

Registration is now open for the First Minister’s Reading Challenge.