STUDENTS in Alveston have become ‘word millionaires’ after competing against each other to read thousands of books.


Marlwood School and St Helen’s Primary School recently completed the collaborative reading project, which saw students battle against each other to see who could read the most.


A group of eight students from St Helen’s visited Marlwood to choose books from a range suitable for their reading age and ability earlier this year, and competed against each other to reach a million words.


St Helen’s Year 6 pupil Emily Templar, 11, was the first to reach one million words at the beginning of July, having read 14 books.


Karen Carrington, learning resource centre manager at Marlwood, said: “Pupils took quizzes on books they read and competed with each other to see who could read the most. 


“After battling for top place with Emily for six months, St Helen’s pupil Samuel Kitson, 11, was not to be left out and was just short of his million words the week before the end of term.

"He was determined to reach the goal he had set for himself and came into Marlwood the day before the end of the summer term to take his final -27th- quiz taking his total over a million words.


“As a group, the eight students from St Helen’s read 4,478,640 words from a total of 80 books. Students in Key Stage 3 at Marlwood School managed to read a total of 5,348 books between them between September and July, amounting to an incredible 164,836,245 words.”


Marlwood produced a new school record for the highest number of Word Millionaires in one school year, totalling 44. 


Amongst those, Jamie Watson, 14, read 2.7 million words (29 books) and Tara Biggs, 13, read 36 books amassing 2.95 million words.


Mrs Carrington added: “Reading plays an important part in life at Marlwood and all students are encouraged to read for 20 minutes every day to improve their reading age. 


“In addition to this key skill giving vital access to the full curriculum, the selection of good books being written for teenagers and young adults aid maturity, imagination, empathy and knowledge of the world around us.”