A beloved classroom assistant from a primary school in Erskine has bagged an award.
Lorraine McAdam from St Anne's Primary earned the Scottish Book Trust’s Learning Professional Award 2024 for her efforts in promoting reading in her school.
The award, sponsored by Browns Books, recognises the influence of teachers and librarians in fostering a thriving reading environment for young people and adults in their community.
Ms McAdam not only transformed the reading culture in her school but is the beloved face behind this cultural shift in her local community.
She said: “I’m honoured to receive the Learning Professional Award from the Scottish Book Trust as I know there are so many worthy winners all over Scotland.
"This was a lovely surprise for me and a double celebration as I celebrated 25 years at St Anne’s this year.
“I’m so proud of our school and I enjoy seeing our pupils reading in our child-led libraries, which we created together.
"This gives the pupils a voice in what they would like to read and what kind of reading environments they would like to read in.
"Observing the pupils increase their vocabulary, general knowledge and strengthen their writing is so rewarding for me. I’m looking forward to the next chapter in our book to see what we do next.”
She has been crucial in the school's Silver Reading Schools accreditation achievement and has introduced new accessible libraries for pupils and parents.
As part of her award, Ms McAdam will receive £500 worth of books from Browns Books to help continue her work.
Fiona Stevenson, the class teacher at St Anne's Primary who nominated Ms McAdam, said: “I nominated Lorraine for the Learning Professional Award as she puts her heart and soul into everything she does and her passion, drive and enthusiasm grows each year.
“Our pupils have become a lot more engaged with their reading due to her ideas to encourage and promote reading. Her knowledge, creativity and enthusiasm has helped to inspire pupils who thought reading was not for them.
"Every pupil in our school has benefited from Lorraine's care, passion and dedication. She brings a smile to all our faces and we are extremely lucky to have Lorraine in our school.”
Marc Lambert, chief executive officer of Scottish Book Trust congratulated Ms McAdam, adding that she was deserving of the award for her "inspiring commitment to the pupils at St Anne’s as she encourages each one of them to find pleasure in reading."
Claire Smith, sales director for Browns Books, said: "It is always so heart-warming to hear stories of how people are going above and beyond to help children, their parents, and members of the local community fall in love with reading."
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