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14 March 2019
CHILDREN at a primary school in Brighton started a new chapter in their school lives as they celebrated the opening of a brand new library, thanks to the fundraising efforts of Roedean School pupils.
The purpose-built library at St Mark’s Primary School in Brighton is the result of a strong partnership between the neighbouring schools and has seen the girls at the independent school working hard to raise £25,000 needed to build the libray.
The primary school on Manor Road did not have a library and staff and pupils delighted when Roedean suggested creating the new building and stocking it.
Brighton mayor Dee Simson was on hand to cut the ribbon and declare The Secret Garden library open after local children’s author Helen Peters had spoken to the children in assembly about how to become a writer.
St Mark’s headteacher Jane Fendley said: “This warm, comfortable library stacked with lovely books is an amazing chance for us to show the children the pleasures of reading a good book. They are so excited to get in and explore it and it’s wonderful to watch them. Who knows what this will ignite in them and lead them towards? You never know, we might have some budding authors right here. It will certainly give them more access to literature and encourage a love of reading that I hope will stay with them all their lives.”
“The partnership we have Roedean is so important. We are close neighbours and it’s a great example of how two schools can work together for the good of the community.
Roedean headteacher Oliver Blond added: “The girls at Roedean get such a lot out of coming to the school to read with the children each week and always tell me it’s the highlight of their week. It seemed natural, as neighbouring schools, that we should work together to help create something that enables young children to have greater access to books. We asked the girls and their parents to buy a book that they themselves enjoyed as young readers for the new library and the reaction and array of titles that came in was wonderful.”
