The Big Diamond Jubilee Read

Give your pupils the chance to be crowned Diamond readers and writers

A new reading and writing challenge from the National Literacy Trust, in partnership with Oxford University Press, is helping schools to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. As members of the Royal Family begin a tour of the Commonwealth to mark the Queen’s 60 year reign, The Big Diamond Jubilee Read invites pupils to set off on a parallel journey.

Here’s how it works: pupils collect ‘reading miles’ by spending time reading books both at home and at school. These miles allow them to travel around the Commonwealth on a classroom poster.  Pupils collect their reading miles in a special reading passport – 33,000 miles (or 11 hours) in total. Every pupil who completes her reading journey around the Commonwealth will be crowned a Diamond Reader and can be entered into a prize draw to win some fantastic prizes!

Pupils can also enter the writing competition. They simply have to choose a book they have really enjoyed reading on their Commonwealth tour and then write to another child to tell them what they enjoyed about it and why they should read it.

Prizes include book vouchers, family days out, a winner’s certificate personally signed by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, and a book package for the school worth £500 from Oxford University Press.

The competition will run from Monday 16 April until Friday 29 June 2012. Schools can take part in both elements of the competition or choose just the Diamond Reader or Diamond Writer. The National Literacy Trust has 2,500 classroom wall maps up for grabs, which will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Wall maps, passports, certificates and stickers can all be downloaded from the website.