The Big Diamond Jubilee Read
Diamond Reader competition

What’s it all about?

To mark the Queen’s 60 year reign, members of the Royal Family are going on a tour of the Commonwealth. By taking part in The Big Diamond Jubilee Read your pupils will set off on their very own tour too, moving around the Commonwealth countries on a fun classroom poster as they work through their chosen reads.

How does it work?

Your pupils are rewarded with 500 reading miles for every 10 minutes spent reading, both at home and at school. They will collect these reading miles in a special reading passport on their very own reading Commonwealth tour - a massive 33,000 miles (or 11 hours) in total! 

A wall map which charts The Big Diamond Jubilee Read route can be downloaded so that pupils can see how far they have travelled. Download.

Every pupil who completes their reading journey around the Commonwealth will be crowned a Diamond Reader and is eligible to be entered into a prize draw to win some fantastic prizes (see the prizes section below for details).

Download wall map
Download reading passport

Download entry form 
Download competition rules

The checkpoints

As 33,000 miles might seem a little overwhelming, we’ve split the challenge into seven journeys, each of which finishes in a checkpoint country that has been or will be visited by members of the Royal Family as part of their Diamond Jubilee Commonwealth tour. The checkpoints are referred to on both the wall map and in the reading passports, and act as interim targets for your pupils.

We’ve produced a downloadable certificate template you can present to pupils when they reach one of the checkpoints, with a special Diamond Reader certificate for pupils who complete their whole reading journey. If you’re running the challenge with a large number of pupils, you may prefer to print off our “Well done” sticker template onto sheets of labels and use these to reward pupils.

Download certificate templates   
Download sticker template

The prizes

Each pupil who becomes a Diamond Reader can be entered into a prize draw to win a whole host of prizes for themselves and their school:

• A winner’s certificate personally signed by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall 
• A family day out for the Summer holidays: The winning pupil will be awarded a family ticket to a local attraction, worth up to £75.
• Big book packages: Oxford University Press is giving away £50 worth of books for the winning pupil and a massive £500 worth for their school.

Supporting resources

Every school can access The Big Diamond Jubilee Read materials to help them run the challenge in school:

• Wall map. Download or request printed copy
• Reading miles passport. Download
• Certificate templates. Download
• Well done sticker templates. Download

In addition to this, members of our network can access exclusive ideas for incorporating the Diamond Jubilee into literacy activities in school. Download.

How to enter

To enter just download and complete the competition entry form with details of all the pupils who have completed the challenge, and email or post the completed form to us, for the attention of Susie Musgrove:

Email: susie.musgrove@literacytrust.org.uk 
Post: National Literacy Trust, 68 South Lambeth Road, London SW8 1RL

All entries must be received by 5pm on Friday 29 June 2012.

Download competition rules  
Download entry form

Schools outside the UK - you can join the Big Diamond Jubilee Read too!

Unfortunately the main prizes are only available to UK schools, but all international entries will be entered into a special international prize draw and the winner will be sent a certificate, personally signed by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall.

Download international entry form  
Download international competition rules

Frequently asked questions

Q: What kind of reading counts towards the reading miles? Is it just books?
A: We want The Big Diamond Jubilee Read to engage even the most reluctant readers, and so there is no restriction on the type of reading materials pupils choose. Books, comics, magazines and newspapers (such as First News) can all count towards your pupils’ reading journey – and these can be both printed or online.

Q: How do the reading passports work?
A: The reading miles passport is a way for pupils to record the amount that they are reading and track their progress through the challenge. 10 minutes of reading is the equivalent of 500 reading miles. Every time a pupil reads for a 10 minute block, the person who is supervising their reading, whether it’s a parent/carer, other family member or a member of staff at school, must mark this off in the passport – with a tick, their initials, a sticker, or whatever you choose.

When a pupil has had every 10 minute block marked off in their passport, they can be crowned a Diamond Reader and are eligible to be entered into the prize draw.

Q: How many pupils can enter from each school?
A: There is no maximum – any pupil who completes the challenge can be entered into the prize draw. In an ideal world your whole school will complete the challenge!

Share your Diamond Jubilee story with other schools

Radiowaves, the award-winning safe social learning platform, has a fantastic free platform where pupils and teachers can share everything that their school is doing to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. This provides the perfect opportunity for extension activities for your pupils around The Big Diamond Jubilee Read; whether it’s a blog about how their reading journey is going so far, a podcast review of one of their favourite books, or a video of a reading miles celebration event.

There are also chances to win more prizes! Visit www.radiowaves.co.uk/jubileeparty to see what it’s all about and start sharing.

Other useful websites 

 www.oxfordowl.co.uk
Oxford Owl is a brilliant FREE website built to support parents with their child’s learning. It has over 250 FREE eBooks for ages three to 11, of all different varieties. These eBooks are really engaging and will work well both in class and at home. It is also full of advice, top tips and practical ideas for supporting children’s reading at home.    

 www.wordsforlife.org.uk 
The Words for Life campaign is all about getting parents engaged with their children’s communication and literacy development, and the website has all kinds of activities, advice and support for parents with children aged up to 11 years.

 http://www.thediamondjubilee.org 
The official website for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee has lots of information about the Commonwealth and the Queen’s life including information about how your pupils can send a message to the Queen.