Every child in every class in school

In 2019, when members of Peterborough Rotary Club became aware of the launch of the initiative to improve literacy in the city’s schools, they were determined to play their part. Initially, the club pulled together a group of members and friends to act as volunteer “Reading Buddies” for a local school but, just as they were ready to move this forward, coronavirus intervened and the idea had to be shelved.

Undeterred, the club looked for another way in which they could support local schools. An idea began to take shape. Under a special arrangement with the publishers, Rotary clubs in the UK are able to purchase Usborne Illustrated Dictionaries at a substantial discount to the cover price. What if the club could acquire sufficient dictionaries to gift to schools so every classroom would have a reference copy of the dictionary? Thus, every child in every class in every primary school in the Peterborough City Council area would have access to one of the dictionaries.

The idea is now reality. The dictionaries have been packaged and labelled. Peterborough Rotary Club is proud to have distributed them, one for every class, to every primary school in the Peterborough City Council area.

Launching the initiative, past president Christine Tindall said: “Peterborough Rotary Club is proud to be distributing dictionaries to all the schools within the city council area. With their many illustrations, these beautiful books will be both a source of pleasure and a valuable literacy aid to children across the city, hopefully for many years to come.”

Councillor Lynne Ayres, the city council cabinet member for children’s services, education, skills and the university, said: “Reading and writing are such important skills to master as they underpin many of the things we do in life. Exploring the meanings of new words can ignite curiosity and spark enjoyment of reading. These Usborne dictionaries will support children to extend their vocabulary, explore the meanings of new words and improve their spelling, which should contribute to improving children’s reading and writing. We are very grateful to all the Peterborough Rotary members who have made this possible.”

On July 14, the last of over 800 dictionaries, delivered by members of the Rotary club, were presented to head of school Paul Jones, and English leader (reading) Natalie Lemin, at Hampton College Primary Phase. With a cover price of £14.99, the value of all the dictionaries donated is in excess of £12,000.