Tesco & Belfast Giants Team Up For Literacy Programme

Posted on Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 at 11:15 am

The Belfast Giants have partnered with the Education Minister John O’Dowd and Tesco to launch a literacy programme throughout Northern Ireland that will run throughout the entire school year.

The programme was established to support literacy development throughout Northern Ireland and is aimed at children between the ages of 4 to 7 years old.  The programme will use 2 books written specifically for this initiative that focus on teaching the importance of a healthy lifestyle and cultural diversity all done through fun stories that will appeal to the children.

The Belfast Giants professional ice hockey players will be reading to over 40 schools throughout the school year and reaching over 1,500 children throughout Northern Ireland.

Giants General Manager Todd Kelman spoke about how the programme was formed.
“We asked the players this year what they wanted to do in the community and the idea came from them to start a reading programme where they will go out and read to children throughout Northern Ireland.  Thanks to Tesco, we have been able to put together this programme that will see us visiting with over 40 primary schools over the next 9 months.”

Education Minister, John O’Dowd commented “Books and reading can open up different worlds and imagination for children and young people. Programmes such as these help to improve literacy levels in schools meaning children are able to learn while they are have fun. I wish the Giants every success with their new programme”

Caoimhe Mannion, Marketing Manager for Tesco in Northern Ireland added:
“Tesco is delighted to partner the Belfast Giants in this new initiative which will take place in schools across the province, and will involve participation by Tesco staff local to the schools where the visits are taking place. The Tesco Giants Reading Programme follows the highly successful Tesco/Belfast Giants “get fit” programme which we’ve partnered up on over the last 2 years, and we hope to build on that success.”

Figures show that one in five pupils in Northern Ireland are still leaving Primary School with poor literacy and numeracy skills. The Belfast Giants and Tesco identified this as an area that they can help improve.  The Tesco Giants Reading Programme is their commitment to these schools to show children how much fun reading can be.

‘Special thanks to our partners at the Science Shop at University of Ulster, and especially students; Emma Nicholl the book illustrator, Ian McAuley and Clarles Clements for the online resources.’