It's newspapers all the way for Sheffield's young readers

The Star Reader passport at Gleadless Primary School

Faith Henser, of Gleadless Primary, is among 60 pupils participating in The Star’s Reading Passport scheme.

Ten primary schools across the city have signed up to the initiative to receive copies of The Star each week for Key Stage 2 pupils to read and learn from.

Faith, aged nine, added: “I read The Star every day. I like to read stories because it gets me interested in reading and I like to know what’s going on in the world.

“The stories are really interesting, they always catch my eye. The colours are really bright. I love reading newspapers and The Star is the best one I have read so far.”

The youngster added: “We have to do assignments with the Reader Passport - the most exciting one so far asks you what different places you can get the news from and I think the newspaper was one of the best places to get the news.

“Some places, like websites, might not have all the information that you want, so I think the newspaper is better.”

Two of her classmates said they enjoyed reading sports coverage in the newspaper.

Joseph Donohoe, aged 10, said: “I find the sports stories the most interesting. I like looking at the reporting of results.

“I support Sheffield United so I make sure I keep an eye on the paper to see how they are doing.

“The Star is the main newspaper that everyone is reading at the moment and it’s got the most news in – it really goes into depth with the stories.”

He said he thought reading the news was better than watching TV bulletins.

“On TV they take ages on one category but in the newspaper you can go at your own pace.”

Calum Blackwood, aged 11, added: “My favourite stories are the football stories because I love football – it’s my main focus apart from education.

“I think The Star is really important because it tells you what’s going on around you, in our area. It’s very educational.”

Calum continued: “I like the way The Star is set out because it’s challenging.

“It’s a good piece of text for kids because it teaches them to read challenging text.”