David Brayley joins Swansea City AFC Foundation for Premier League Primary Stars Club Author Day
Children from St David’s Catholic Primary School and St Therese's Catholic Primary School joined local author David Brayley at the Swansea.com Stadium on Monday to take part in a Premier League Primary Stars Club Author Day.
Hosted by professional football club community organisations, Premier League Primary Stars Club Author Days are part of the Premier League’s free education programme, Premier League Primary Stars, which launched in 2017 and uses the appeal of football to help children be active and develop essential life skills.
National Literacy Trust research found that pupils who have author visits during the academic year are twice as likely to read above the expected level for their age, and are more likely to enjoy and be confident in their reading and writing.
More than 1,000 primary school pupils will have the opportunity to take part in the in-person Club Author Days this year, funded by the Premier League and delivered in partnership with the National Literacy Trust. This year, 15 club author days will be taking place across England and Wales.
Swansea-born author Brayley delivered an engaging workshop to the children from St David's and St Therese's Catholic Primary School, which detailed Brayley's journey to becoming an author, and the opportunities which opened up for him as a result of his love for reading at an early age.
"Thanks to the Premier League and National Literacy Trust we’ve been lucky enough to have local author David Brayley join us," said Jack Giles, sports and education area coordinator at Swansea City AFC Foundation.
"All the children were really fascinated by David’s story and his route to becoming an author. It’s really got them thinking about how reading can help them in the future."
Brayley has used his passion for football and sport to become an award-winning author, and now regularly visits schools to highlight the opportunities which can arise due to reading for pleasure.
"The earlier you can explain to children the importance of reading and what it can lead to the better," said Brayley.
"I think a lot of young people see reading as something that they know they have to do but they don’t fully know the purpose of it.
"I’m quite open with the fact that reading, and my love for reading from a young age, led me to become an author.
"I don’t try to convince young people to become authors but what I do try and convince them is that, whatever they do want to do in life, reading will certainly give them opportunities and lead to opportunities because they can become an expert quite quickly.
"The message is always the same. Always work hard, make the most of any ability you have in whatever field that may be, but reading underpins a lot of things that can lead to success in the future.
"My latest book comes out this month, 'George’s Fateful D-Day'. The National Literacy Trust has made sure every child who attended goes home with a book.
"I hope they feel they have been able to meet an author they can engage with. I’m just a local boy from this area so it’s nice for them to see that that’s what can happen.
"The book isn’t even on the shelves yet so I’m delighted that they can go home with the book, and thanks to the Swans Foundation and National Literacy Trust for making this happen."
The Club Author Day at the Swansea.com Stadium encouraged the young people from the Foundation's Premier League Primary Stars programme to think about all the benefits which reading can give.
"I enjoy that you can get lost in a book," said Evan, a pupil from St David's Catholic Primary School.
"Your imagination goes wild, you can think of anything to do with the book. Reading can help us in the future because it can improve your vocabulary. Say you’re in a job interview, you can express yourself more and show how good you are for the job."
Lily, a pupil from St Therese's Catholic Primary School added: "I think that it’s nice that you can dive into your own world, and you can imagine being the characters in a book."