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Longlands Primary School

On a sunny summer’s morning in June, crowds of excited children gathered in the playground of Longlands primary school waiting for deputy mayor of Bexley to cut the ribbon and declare their new reading space open. It had been 6 months since the school council had discussed their Rainforest Reading Room ideas with Assistant Headteacher Tammy Allen and they were itching to take a peek.

Alice Thurston - a parent and local resident – first made contact with ABC Book Club in December 2021 - initially to discuss a donation of books. She told the ABC team that The Friends of Longlands School (FOLS) parent’s group had successfully raised the money to purchase two cabins for their playground.

One earmarked for an art studio, and the other, a reading room - a quiet space where children could escape the noise of breaktime and sit down with a good book. Having heard about the effort to fundraise and the collaboration between the school and its parent community, ABC were only too happy to go a step further.

As requested by the school council, their Rainforest Reading Room is quite an immersive experience! With grass underfoot and tropical leaves cascading from the ceiling, it’s no surprise that Thea, aged 6, exclaimed "It looks like we're actually in the rainforest! I love it in here!”. It would seem that Alfie the school dog agrees!

Tammy Allen, Assistant Head Teacher at Longlands said

“ABC have collaborated with us amazingly. We will be eternally grateful to the team and it has been lovely to watch the children engaging with books and exploring their new Rainforest Reading Room.”
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“Thank you again for your amazing work you did with us, we will be eternally grateful and it has been lovely to watch the children engaging with the Rainforest Reading Room.”
Tammy Allen
Assistant Head Teacher, Longlands Primary School
“I really like the Rainforest Reading Room because it's really colourful and all the books I really like. We used to have a box of books and they got all wet when it rained and Mrs Allen had to throw them in the bin and now the books are all sheltered."
Francesca
Pupil Age 7, Longlands Primary School

Partners on this project...

Friends of Longlands School

Made up of teachers, parents and members of the local community who fundraise to support the school with various enrichment projects.

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