To raise awareness of the range of e-resources available and how students can access them, Reading School’s Learning Resource Centre (LRC) ran an e-resources Festival on 21 June.
10 stallholders (pupil librarians), in charge of promoting their resource, wowed passing students with information about the amazing e-resources the LRC has to offer. Unfortunately, due to the brilliant weather and the subsequent glare, laptops could not be used but the pupil librarians used posters, and information they had previously prepared to advocate for their resource. Plus music, sweets and freebies added to the enjoyment of the Festival.
Pupils could collect a stamp for a prize draw once they had spoken to a stallholder about the resource, 60 pupils did this – though probably double that number visited the Festival. On top of that, pupils went off and spoke to friends about the resources and staff came to chat too, so the LRC are sure there will be an after effect.
The Festival was just phase one of a larger plan to get everyone in the school to make more use of the e-resources available to them. The aim is to get teachers referring pupils to resources and to make parents aware of what is available. The Festival has started the conversation – some staff are now planning to talk to parents at the next parents’ evening about using specific resources and some have mentioned setting homework where pupils have to use a particular resource.
Loralie Kesteven, the Reading School Librarian says e-resources are so important because: “Our boys borrow very few non-fiction books and tend to rely on Google – choosing the top few hits from a search. We need to be able to offer good quality information, packaged in an easily accessible format. Currently 6th form (and sometimes year 11) students are referred to Hodder Education A Level Magazines Archive – a trusted and easy-to-use resource – to find both specific articles and more general research by teaching staff. JSTOR is used most by English Department as it is excellent for literary criticism.”
From online journals and magazines to encylopedias and more, Reading School offers a wide range of e-resources, all accessible through the Learning Resources page on SharePoint. All of the resources can be accessed from home as well as school, so students can enjoy learning and studying throughout the summer.
“We had a brilliant day today promoting our e-resources. I think we have raised awareness but now we need to actually get more staff and pupils into the habit of actually using the resources.” Loralie Kesteven.
For more information on the Festival and to see some photos please see Reading School’s latest news here.