Priti Patel to launch Get Witham Reading 2018
Witham MP, Priti Patel, will launch her yearly literacy initiative Get Witham Reading in schools on Thursday 5th July 2018 to celebrate and promote reading amongst schoolchildren.
First launched in 2012, Get Witham Reading is celebrating its seventh year by bringing together over a hundred schoolchildren and their parents and teachers to participate in reading activities. The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds MP, have praised Ms Patel for encouraging children and young people to embrace reading
Students, parents, teachers and Governors across seven schools – Baynards Primary, Templars Academy, Powers Hall Academy, Silver End Academy, Elm Hall Primary School, Thurstable School and New Rickstones Academy – will take part in a range of activities designed to encourage reading for leisure and improve literacy levels. Each school will put on activities that are based on chosen books which will encourage a love of English and storytelling.
Ms Patel said:
“I am delighted to be launching Get Witham Reading 2018 on 5th July. This initiative is in its seventh year and I look forward to joining pupils across the constituency to take part in their activities on the day.
“Recreational reading is crucially important as it helps to foster a child’s imagination as well as improve core academic skills. I hope this event will show that reading is not only a gateway to achievement and success, but that it can be very enjoyable too.
“I would like to thank all the schools who will be taking part in Get Witham Reading this year and I hope all pupils, teachers and parents have an enjoyable day celebrating reading across this part of Essex. I would also like to thank the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Education for their support for this event.”
In a letter to Ms Patel, the Prime Minister wrote:
“It is wonderful to see that Get Witham Reading is returning this year and I am delighted to send my best wishes as you take part in this fantastic event.
“Whether you find yourself awaiting your Hogwarts letter, enjoying an adventure in Narnia, or embarking on a journey across Middle-earth, I hope that you find as much pleasure in reading as I do.”
The Secretary of State for Education wrote: “I am so pleased to deliver this message to everyone involved in Get Witham Reading. I have been passionate about books and literature since I was a child and I have taken this passion with me through to adulthood. One of my favourite books when I was young was a poetry book called Now We Are Six. This was written by A.A. Milne, who also wrote the Winnie the Pooh books. Now I am a father, I have been lucky enough to revisit these wonderful poems with my own children and would encourage you to read them too if you get the chance.”