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Newsletter 6 - May 2025
Library
Ms Tocknell, Librarian - mstocknellf@strichardscc.com
The 1066 Schools Book Award 2025 came to its conclusion
at the end of March. The final event was held here in the
Library at St Richard’s, with over 70 people attending.
Pupils from all six schools involved enjoyed presentations
and readings from the books, videos especially made for us
from the authors Sam Sedgman and Alexander Armstrong
(he of ‘Pointless’ fame!) and prizes were awarded for
excellent competition entries.
The whole event was hosted by three of our pupils, Sabrina,
Shalini and Amelie, who made everyone feel very welcome.
Faheem had the honour of announcing the winner. After the
formalities, all enjoyed a bu�et before heading for home.
The books enjoyed as part of this award are shown here
with photos from the event. The winning book? The
excellent graphic novel ‘Raven’, by Kami Garcia!
Article from the National Literacy Trust:
Reading for pleasure; How does it help children
develop empathy?
If you grew up loving reading, there will be certain characters who you connected with, and who you returned to again and
again. Good writing helps you become invested in a character’s life, and experience their highs and lows and understand their
motivations. The Empathy Lab, who leads the way in understanding and nurturing empathy in the classroom and at home,
suggest that this connection with book characters can translate to how you connect with people in real life. They have shared
some key insights on the development of empathy with us:
• Empathy is a learnable skill and reading for pleasure is a powerful vehicle for its development.
• Empathy can foster children’s wellbeing and resilience.
• Research also shows that the emotional and social benefits of empathy are more significant for young people’s academic
attainment than IQ.
DofE
The Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh pupils completed their practice
expedition in April, camping at Bushwood and learning how to
navigate, successfully camp and be self-su�cient. They represented
St Richard's brilliantly and showed resilience, teamwork and
determination across the whole weekend. They will soon be
undergoing their Qualifying expedition and we look forward to the
amazing things they will achieve.
Miss Coelho, DofE Lead