Local Primary School opens new library thanks to St John’s support

The opening ceremony for the new library at Bayards Hill Primary School marked the culmination of the hard work of students and staff from St John’s College over recent months.

The new library is a spacious and welcoming space that provides a range of books and resources for the school's pupils, as well as a comfortable environment for reading and learning. The project has also been supported by Oxford University Press which has supplied resources and expertise to encourage a love of reading among children and to help them develop their literacy skills.

The ribbon was cut by local illustrator Ian Smith. Ian also hosted an engaging reading and drawing session for the pupils, all dressed as their favourite book characters in a colourful array of costumes ranging from Cat in the Hat to Little Red Riding Hood. They were joined by representatives from St John’s, Oxford University Press, and the National Literacy Trust, all of whom had a significant role to play in seeing the project come to fruition.

The project has been driven forward by Assistant Head, Paul Waite. Committed to the importance of reading in the school, Paul Waite stated he was ‘very, very excited’ about the library, and looked forward to developing ‘a passion for reading in all our pupils, opening up a world of adventures’.

Beginning over six months ago, St John’s Access team members and generous student volunteers have been travelling regularly to Bayards Hill to deliver and organise the numerous boxes of books for the pupils donated by St John’s. The College has also donated bookshelves and supported the school with a £5k grant that enabled their most disadvantaged students to participate in school trips.

It acts as part of the wider Inspire Primary initiative at St John’s which partners the College with local primary schools. By sharing the facilities and resources of St John’s, the goal of the programme is to inspire young learners and break down barriers between the university and the local community.

For Richard Waters, Access Lead, being involved in the project has been a really rewarding experience:

'There’s so much to be proud of within St John’s programme of Access and Outreach work, but seeing the development of this library and the tangible impact that it is already having with pupils has been particularly rewarding,' he said. 'I’m excited to see how else we can support the school and their pupils.'

The project also works in partnership with the Oxfordshire Raise a Reader programme, which was launched by Oxford University Press to help provide children with the tools they need to become lifelong readers. Coinciding with World Book Day, the library at Bayards Hill represents another exciting step in this direction.

If you’d like to get involved with the project, please get in touch with Richard Waters on access@sjc.ox.ac.uk.