AVID readers have amazed their teachers after clocking up a word count running close to 20 million.
Haughton Academy students Parth Mittal, 11, with Leia Sunter, 15, led the way having read five and three million words respectively in an initiative designed to boost literacy skills.
The academy adopted the pioneering Accelerated Reader scheme and instantly saw students improve their reading age by years in a matter of months.
Open to all students, the system carefully measures pupils’ ability and recommends an appropriate reading level so they don’t become disheartened. It then checks their knowledge through quizzes and measures progress.
Parth and Leia have already reached the system’s maximum reading age of 16½ thanks to a prolific appetite for the written word.
Leia scored a 625,000 word count in a single week after reading the complete Percy Jackson series.
“I have always liked reading and virtually learnt the Flower Fairies off by heart when I was younger,” said Leia, who wants to be an engineer and has already secured a mentor at Cummins Engines.
Parth, who wants to work for technology giant Apple one day, added: “Our school is very good at encouraging you to read because it is so important to all your subjects.”
Other reading millionaires include Ellie Mctimoney (2,168,253), Ellen Aspinall (1,729,252), Alicia Cuthbertson (1,716,016), Danni Greenfield (1,673,426), Neave Crawford (1,315,131), Brooke Mason (1,180,188) and Maisy Sunter (1,069,766). Learning resource centre curriculum support Emma Davison said: “They really enjoy Accelerated Reader because it makes reading even more fun and they can do it at school or at home.”
The school recently rewarded students for taking part in World Book Day at the Biggest Book Show on Earth in Newcastle.
Miss Davison added: “Reading remains the basic building block of a successful education and I am delighted to see we have so many avid readers.”
