IN the winter, there is nothing better than curling up with a good book and dreaming away the cold and in this spirit Pool Academy, part of Athena Learning Trust, has opened its very own reading cafe ‘Starbooks’ this term.

Starbooks is a cosy cafe where students can not only read under blankets with a hot chocolate in hand, but also a place where they can spend some time talking about reading, recommending books to their peers and teachers and even reading to each other.

The initiative is being run by Miss Smith and the cafe is open from 3pm to 4pm every Tuesday after school. Students have been coming along and sharing stories with friends every week since Starbooks opened in November. Miss Smith intends to start reading 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' to those who come along in the run up to Christmas.

At Pool Academy, as well as developing students’ literacy skills, staff also aim to foster a love of reading. To promote reading for pleasure and for learning, they support students with book knowledge and strategies to improve reading comprehension and inference skills. Additionally, each week, tutors deliver the ‘Read Aloud’ tutor reading programme.

Nick Ward, principal at Pool Academy said: “When a child reads for pleasure, talks about reading or does an activity linked to reading, it can lead to improved health and wellbeing as well as increased empathy, creativity and communication skills. There are further academic benefits, such as improved critical thinking, concentration, general knowledge and ability to understand curriculum texts.

“Whether a student is already a bookworm who has lots of books that they're desperate to bring along; or they haven't found the right book yet, I hope that the new Starbooks cafe will encourage everyone to read more. After all, the world belongs to those who read!”