Big Summer Book Swap: Frequently Asked Questions

Our annual Big Summer Book Swap, where schools across Kent submit 50 books to be swapped with another school, is still open for registration. Last year, the swap was a huge success and all participating schools were very pleased with the books they received but those looking to participate may have a few questions before they register. 

Q How does it work?

It's a nice simple process where schools register at the link below, they will then receive an e-mail confirming that they have registered for the swap and telling them when we will be in touch to arrange collection of their books. Within the e-mail is a helpful guide to sorting books and a poster to be displayed around the school.

After the 20th of June (the last day to register), we will be in touch to arrange collection of your books. Kent- Teach want to make this process as quick and easy as possible for all schools that are participating. We will let you know when we will be swinging by to collect the books and all you have to do is have them ready either at the office or in a set location for us to collect. Once we have the books we will then quality check all books entered into the big Summer book swap to ensure that all schools receive quality texts back.

Once quality checking and swapping is complete we will then be in touch to arrange delivery of the books back to your school. Depending on the number of schools that we have participating this may be in late July or early September.

Q What type of books will I receive back?

We try to match the age range of books with the schools so all reading literature returned to the schools is age appropriate. For example primary schools will be swapped with another primary school, secondary schools will be swapped with another secondary school. On your registration form you did state the books that you would like as part of the prize and we will use this to inform what we give you back in the swap. However part of the fun of the book swap is not knowing what you're going to get back and having a range of new texts for you and your children to explore. Yes it is a little bit of a risk however the quality check that we do ensures that the books that you receive back are of good quality and adhere to our terms and conditions

Q How much do we have to do as a school?

Our aim is for the school to do as little as possible - we appreciate you are busy educating young minds and do not want to add to your workload. All schools need to do is register, collect 50 books from around the school, follow up on our collection email. We will do the rest.

Q When will the books be collected and returned?

Depending on the number of schools that participate and school's availability we do aim to collect the books in the first few weeks of July. We will be able to be more specific on the timelines once have a list of all schools who have registered by the 20th June.

Q Why should I register?

Our aim with this campaign was to help schools promote a love of reading and also support schools in a time of budgetary need. We know how much hard work goes into creating a welcoming and diverse school and class library and wanted to support our Kent schools with this endeavour. Reading is such a vital life skill and schools play a fundamental role in nurturing the positive attitudes to reading from an early age and with recent studies showing downward trends in reading enjoyment, we want to support schools in providing books that will engage their pupils.

We also run this event in partnership with Bloomsbury Education who have donated a collection of books to be raffled off to participating schools so not only would you be receiving 50 new-to-you books from the swap, you would also be in with a chance of winning a brand new set of books for your school.

If you want to get involved, register today: https://forms.office.com/e/Uxs081dfN0

To find out more about our Big Summer Book Swap and further details about how to participate, read our blog and to find out why we do this and the importance of reading why not read our articles on Why Reading With Children is Important and Why We Do It - The Big Summer Book Swap