PUPILS from a Wee County school received an award from Nicola Sturgeon last week.

The P2/3L class at Craigbank Primary took part in the First Minister’s Reading Challenge and got their hands on the national accolade at an event in Edinburgh last Wednesday, June 20.

An initiative from the Scottish Government and delivered by the Scottish Book Trust, the challenge aims to encourage youngsters to read for pleasure and develop a life-long love for books.

The students received the award in recognition of their successful pupil-led programme, inspired by their class novel on the subject of grannies.

They showed great enthusiasm in learning more about the different generations in their family and enjoyed creating their own illustrations.

“Extremely proud” class teacher Zoe Lindsay said: “At Craigbank, we are passionate about inspiring a love of reading in our children as we believe that a good book can take you on the most amazing adventure.
"After reading Wee Granny's Magic Bag, the children fell in love with Wee Granny and her world.
"The book gave rise to a whole host of activities and reminded the children how much they love their own Grannies.
“Taking part in the First Minister’s Reading Challenge inspired the children to read more widely and, continuing the theme, they chose Gangsta Granny for our class novel.
“It also got them working together to come up with innovative ways of sharing their story with a wider audience.”

MSP Keith Brown, representative for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, added his congratulations and said: “It is fantastic that the hard work of the primary 2/3 pupils at Craigbank Primary School has been recognised with an award for their pupil reading journey from the First Minister.

“Almost 1,000 primary schools across Scotland took part in the First Minister’s Reading Challenge this year, opening up a world of adventure and fun to young people whilst also giving them really important literacy, writing and language skills.

“I hope we can encourage even more kids to enjoy the benefits of reading by signing even more schools from Clackmannanshire up to the First Minister’s Reading Challenge.”

Craigbank was one of 17 schools to receive a prize, with organisers looking at opening it up to secondary schools, libraries and community groups next year.