Four Kent schools have earned Buster’s Book Club awards for encouraging children to improve their literacy skills with the reading-reward scheme .

The winners are:

All Faiths Children’s Academy, Strood, which won an award for Encouraging Whole School Awareness;

Teacher Laura Webster from Tiger Primary School in Maidstone, who was named a Buster’s Book Club Champion;

St Edward’s Catholic Primary School, in Sheerness, which won the Best In-School Prizes award;

And Rose Street Primary School, also in Sheerness, which was presented with an award for Continued Encouragement to Read for Pleasure.

Buster’s Book Club uses competitions and other incentives to encourage primary school pupils to spend more time reading for pleasure at home.

Prizes include a Class of the Week Trophy, celebrity story-time visits, and tickets to visitor and leisure attractions such as Diggerland and Wildwood.

Teacher Kate Ware from winning school St Edward’s Catholic Primary had this to say about the scheme: “Buster’s Book Club has really taken off in schools.

“There is a lot of competition between the classes to see who’s going to win, and we try to really increase that, and increase the reading minutes by offering big prizes at the end of the term.”

Buster’s Book Club coordinator Kay Devine said: “Well done to all of the schools who won these awards.

“After embracing the scheme so enthusiastically, they really deserved this recognition. I am sure they have already noticed the benefits of taking part in terms of improved literacy and pupil engagement with reading.”

The scheme is sponsored by organisations such as The Ernest Cook Trust, the Education People, Little Cheyne Court wind farm, Kent Community Foundation, Golding Vision, Orbit, Medway Council, Specsavers, Leeds Castle, Hornby, Rotary, Acorns Read and Grow, the Crown Foundation, the Gibbons Trust and Kent County Council.

To find out more about Buster’s Book Club or to register online, visit www.bustersbookclub.co.uk. Alternatively, contact Kay Devine by emailing kdevine@thekmgroup.co.uk or by calling 0844 264 0292.

To watch a video about the awards, visit: