MORE than 150 new books were donated to a Galashiels primary, thanks to a campaign launched by parents.

The 'Book for Burgh' drive was set up in a bid to refresh and replenish the existing school library.

The project also aims to ensure that pupils have easy access to ‘reading sets’ which see small groups of children study the same book together.

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Parents also funded a ‘Star Reader’ programme which sees youngsters gain awards for making progress with their reading.

Last week, parents Mel McCue, Angela McLarty and Dave Scott joined their children at Burgh Primary to read together from the new collection.

Emma Armstrong, the deputy head teacher, said: ‘It was lovely to see how excited the children were when they opened the packages with the new books and we’ve already been using them across all the year groups in the school.

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“Giving pupils and staff a say in what sort of books we wanted was important as it has allowed us to tie in with the Star Reader programme and there is huge benefit in using specific books in small groups which let the children learn together at a level they are comfortable with.

"We’d like to thank everyone who donated for their kindness and support."

During 2023 the school has sought to deepen youngsters' love of reading with a range of visits and events aimed at connecting the children with different types of literature.

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In January, the Scots Language Centre worked with P1 pupils on a project linked to the ‘Neeps & Tatties’ storybook, followed up by a visit in March by one of the UK’s leading football writers, Daniel Gray, who led a writing workshop with P6 pupils.

In May, past pupil Alan Windram launched ‘One Button Benny and the Dinosaur Dilemma’ at the school.

The ‘One Button Benny’ series have proved a massive hit with children across the UK with thousands of copies being sold.

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Alan kicked off the campaign by donating a series of illustrated stories, published by his Little Door Books company.

They included Polish and Turkish translations to reflect the diversity of languages spoken at the school.

And last month, Scotland’s Young People and Children's Commissioner Nicola Killean selected the school to host the launch of a new book promoting rights in early years settings.

Angela McLarty, from the Burgh Parent Teacher Council, said: "This has been a really successful campaign and we’ve been able to provide over 150 brand new books for the school and helped encourage our children to read more collectively and individually.

"We’ve also had great support from outside the school community. Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale heard about the campaign and posted us some lovely new copies.

"We’ve been blown away by the kindness and it was lovely getting little messages from donors encouraging the pupils to read and highlight how the book they were sending was a favourite when they were children.

"There won’t be many schools in the UK who have hosted two book launches in 2023 and we hope our pupils will be encouraged to read and write inside and out of school.

"The ability to read and freely access books is amongst the most precious gifts we can offer children and through this campaign so many people have given that gift to pupils at the Burgh."