Local inspiration

As you approach the village of Sutton Veny in Wiltshire you might imagine you've just taken a ride on the Tardis, back in time a century or so. Surrounded by lush green countryside, it is steeped in history from the White Horse in the hills - thought to have been first created in 878AD to celebrate Alfred defeating the Danes - to the church dating back to before 1240. But arriving in the little village school, squashed in to between the church and the local playing fields, you soon realise that the teaching team here are bang up to date and bursting with ideas for the future.
Book Fair Organiser Rachel Brotherton immediately strikes you as one of those people 'who just get things done'. She radiates boundless energy and is brimming with enthusiasm for her second Book Fair this year. 'We held our first ever Book Fair last November and what a success!' Rachel had spent a year working in America on an exchange and had been introduced to Scholastic Book Fairs there. 'I remember thinking "That looks so easy!" We started small, having just four cases and held it in a small resource room. But, with just 137 children in school we raised more than £1000, which included £200-worth of books that were bought for teachers through the Donate a Book Scheme. We had a commission of £600 so we were able to update our classroom resources books (we bought the whole Scholastic Curriculum Bank series) and buy some fantastic new titles for the children!'

Forward planning
The motive behind holding a second Book Fair was to encourage children to buy books to take on holiday. Stella, the Year 1 teachers explains: 'The school summer holidays of five to six weeks is such a big chunk of time in their short reading career, I worry that you get so far with them, and then if they haven't read in the summer, you're back at square one in September.'
Rachel agrees with her 'The main reason we hold the Book Fair is because I'm passionate about getting children reading more. The Book Fair is a great way to get children enthusiastic about books, and it's their enthusiasm that drives the parents to come in and buy for them. And it's especially great for children who don't get taken to bookshops or libraries.'
'When we booked the Fair the Scholastic co-ordinator, Maria Demetrio, was extremely helpful and she suggested running the 'Reading Around the World' theme and mentioned the resources available on the Scholastic website. This helped us to plan what to do for the Book Fair and give it a structure' explains Rachael.

The week before
Publicising the Book Fair and raising excitement about it are vital for a really successful fair, thinks Rachael, but doesn't have to be time-consuming.
'The week before the Book Fair, I printed out 137 different flags from the Scholastic website and gave one to every child in the school (selecting the less known countries for Year 6). I then sent home a letter, the flag to colour in and the invitation (from the Planning Kit) with the order form. This pre-order form is essential because we are a rural school and many children come by bus. This form meant that parents who couldn't come to the Fair could send in their order and not miss out. We sold £100-worth of books before the Book Fair had even arrived!'
'We held a special Book Fair assembly and explained the Flag Competition to the children. We offered a prize of a £10 shopping spree at the Fair as the prize (using part of the £25 allowed for competitions). I invited the Year 5 children to sign up as volunteers, and sent out letters of consent. I also asked children to bring in any flags or props to decorate the hall and dress up the helpers.'
'I knew the local pre-school were holding their sports day on the playing fields so we sent a letter out to pre-school parents and invited them to a special opening that morning, just for them. We highlighted the fact that we'd ordered the Early Years bookcase so that there would be a suitable selection of books for them.'

Just a day to go
'The children were really keen to be Book Fair helpers but a bit nervous about it too, so I gave them a bit of checkout training! They relished the responsibility and it not only helps with real-life maths but is a brilliant link with the 'economic well-being' strand of the Every Child Matters Agenda. Parents were pleased about it too, one Mum said "We've been playing shops at home for days, practising for the Book Fair!".
One helper, Kate, says 'I really liked that Miss Brotherton asked us to do it - instead of just her doing everything. I've learned how to count money and stuff. I knew I could do it but now I can do it even better!'
'I also gave them time to familiarise themselves with the books on the cases so that they would be able to help the other children and make recommendations to parents.'

Setting the scene
'All the children joined in the competition so we made bunting with all their flags and decorated the hall with it - it looked fantastic. We also gathered all the props that had been sent in and used these to set up table top displays. There was a range of hats from around the world that the helpers loved dressing up in. It all helped to make the 'Reading Around the World' theme come alive.'

The big day arrives
'On the day of opening I held a 'The Book Fair is here' assembly. I recommended some of the titles and did lots of 'Have you seen this...?' I couldn't believe how many of these selected titles sold.
'Last time we ran the Donate a Book Scheme for parents to buy books for school, but I thought it might be too cheeky to ask them to do that twice a year. Instead we had a Children's Wish List displayed. Children were invited to add books that they would like to see in the classroom or library and we will spend the commission we raise on these titles. It's particularly good for children whose parents don't spend on books.

During the Fair
The Hall is buzzing. There is a special assembly at the end of the day to which parents are invited. The competition winner is announced, and the Year 2 children put on a performance of 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt!' with great enthusiasm. Their teacher tells them 'You'll remember that all your lives and be able to tell it to your children'. The power of storytelling is obviously alive and thriving in this school!
The Book Fair Helpers are rewarded with stickers and they make sure Miss Brotherton has one too. The message of the importance of reading throughout the summer holidays is highlighted and soon everyone is scouring the book cases!
Maybelline, one of the helpers states emphatically 'I think the Book Fair is really good for the younger ones, it's a really good atmosphere and it's inspiring. It's going to help them read. They'll get books and keep reading.'

The aftermath
In no time at all, the Year 5 helpers have put all the cases away, the decorations are taken down, the funny hats taken off and the money counted.
All that's left to do is to complete the form (In the Planning Kit) to be returned to Scholastic and then Miss Brotherton has the fun of choosing which new books to have in school (with the help of the Children's Wish List of course!)

Quotes:
'I can't believe I'm doing my Christmas shopping in July!' (parent at Fair)

Rachael deliberately booked the Book Fair to tie in with most people's pay day: 'I should be a business woman!' she laughs.

'What an inspirational success. The Book Fair has provided an ideal opportunity to improve and enrich the reading appetite if the children.' Christine Folker, headteacher

'Ordering extra books is so easy and efficient. The Book Fair staff are so lovely, we've never had a problem. The extra books just arrive when the Fair is collected.'

'The selection of books is great - as Literacy Coordinator being able to choose from the most up-to-date books on the market is good.'

'This is the fifth book I've bought this week and at last Mum has let me have the Dr Who poster aswell'. Ben, aged 8

in box:
It comes as no surprise that Rachel has recently been awarded Distinction in this year's Regional Primary Teacher of the Year Award and the school has just survived an Ofsted inspection, result: outstanding!