25 September 2020
Four members of Shoreham Port’s Engineering team have been volunteering their time to create a fantastic new ‘beach-house’ style reading nook for New Horizons Seaside Primary School in Lancing. The newly built wooden structure was custom designed and built for the school’s Key Stage 1 library by the Port team, with the aim to encourage young children to find excitement and pleasure in reading while developing their literacy skills in a fun, engaging environment.
As a Trust Port, Shoreham Port donate time and resources to causes that align with their aims and values. The Port also encourage members of its team to take a day each year away from their working week to volunteer for a charity or cause of their choice. This provides colleagues the opportunity to give something back to the local community in which they live and work and to contribute to causes they care about.
Ryan, Neil, Max and Aiden from the Port’s skilled Engineering department chose to put their charity day towards the exciting project of designing, building and decorating the reading nook for New Horizons Seaside Primary’s Key Stage 1 library room, with an additional 1.5 days programmed into their schedule to complete the works. The design of the blue and white striped wooden structure was inspired by real-life beach huts found on the nearby seafront and features shelves inside to store books, as well as a comfortable spot for children to read.
Passionate about education, Shoreham Port often partner and help local schools and educational groups on a variety of projects to improve their facilities, as well as working with schools to teach children about the rich maritime history of Shoreham, Lancing and the surrounding areas.
New Horizons Seaside Primary will also be taking part in the Why Shipping Matters programme later in the year. Created by The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and Shoreham Port, Why Shipping Matters is a free resource programme created for teachers, containing insightful lessons to encourage interest in the local shipping industry at an early age and to grow the understanding of its impact on UK, while engaging with a wide range of topics across the National Curriculum. Within the pack, teachers will access short video clips acted out by Port staff and stakeholders, featuring characters of historical significance.
Ryan Baker, Engineering Manager (maintenance) commented “Creating the ‘beach-house’ at Seaside Primary School in Lancing was a brilliant project to be involved in from design to completion, one we can all be proud of. I know first-hand how important it is for the children learning to read when they start in reception, and the ‘beach-house’ makes it exciting. As a department, we used our charity day offered by the Port to carry out the work, this was greatly appreciated by the school.”
Nicola Irwin, Senior Deputy Head at New Horizons Seaside Primary school commented “New Horizons Seaside Primary is so grateful to Shoreham Port for recreating our Key Stage One Library. We now have a stunning library which inspires the children to read.”
Nicola continued “It’s been so special to see the children climbing excitedly into the ‘beach-house’ and settle down with a book. The children will now spend more time to in the library engaging in books which will improve their imagination, language, emotional well-being, curiosity and most importantly, foster their love of reading.”
For more information about accessing the free Why Shipping Matters resource pack, please contact info@shoreham-port.co.uk.
Category: Community
