Year 7 Visit Foyles Bookshop

My school St Augustine's in Kilburn has taken every student in Year 7 to Foyles Bookshop in London's West End for many years now, and the trip has such an effect on their reading for pleasure that I wanted to share the experience and encourage other secondary schools to do the same.

We usually take our students in February or March after they start in September. It's a good time because our Year 10s are on work experience so we have some more staff available, plus we love going around World Book Day!

When we arrive, the students get to attend a small workshop with the staff from Foyles. They give advice on children's, teen and young adult books, but the students can chose a title from any section if they have something in mind.

Everyone gets to choose a book, which is paid for by the school up to a limit of £8.99. Funding can sometimes be difficult, but all schools have to make choices for the benefit of their students and for us, reading is a key to success.