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ERIN & WILBAR
WILBAR - We're Inspiring a Love of Books And Reading
WILBAR was the school’s reading mascot for the academic year 2021-2022 and his name stood for We’re Inspiring a Love of Books And Reading. His job was to help children engage with reading and promote a love of books – mission complete! Children read outside of school, had their parents record a signature in their reading record (one read per day) and this accumulated until they achieved certain milestones. Children were awarded certificates for 25, 50 and 75 reads to keep them motivated along the way until they reached the ultimate milestone: 100 reads, which awarded you your WILBAR bear and a very special certificate that you received stating that upon accepting your WILBAR bear, you were pledging that you will read to him every day.
The children loved WILBAR and he quickly became the face of a school that loves reading!
WILBAR was so popular that every child worked incredibly hard to be awarded their very own bear. As a school that loves to continue to motivate all children with their reading, we needed to decide on what was next and that’s exactly what happened, although the decision came from our reading ambassadors. Our children needed a new target to work toward – enter ERIN!
ERIN - Enjoying Reading Inspires Novelists
ERIN is acronym which stands for Enjoying Reading Inspires Novelists. This name was created by Beth in Year 6, who won the school’s competition last year when we challenged all children as to who could come up with the best name for WILBAR’s successor. ERIN takes on the same role as WILBAR did last year whereby all children are working toward earing her. Our goal is to introduce a new bear each year so that children can accumulate a family of reading bears to commemorate their time at Aylesford and celebrate their dedication for reading.
WILBAR will always be remembered at our school so do look out to see where he appears (perhaps in the library or in book corners!).
New to this year, once children earn their ERIN bear, they become part of a special club, where they can take part in exclusive competitions. Special ‘Golden Ticket’ prizes related to ERIN can also be found randomly inserted into a wide range of books from our school library. Additionally, ERIN class totals will be shared in celebration assembly, and the individual names that are called for earning their ERIN bears, will be added to a photo gallery for all to see! ERIN takes pride of place in school during lessons as these stay on children’s desks during reading lessons or during times within the day allocated for reading for pleasure.
