BOOKWORMS from a trio of Swindon’s schools got together this week to talk to one another about their love of literature.

The annual Riveting Readathon sees around 45 students from Kingsdown School, Dorcan Academy and Highworth Warneford challenged to read five fascinating books over three months before getting together to debate which one is their favourite.

The aim of the readathon to get more teenagers interested in reading and this week, the students gathered at Kingsdown for the hotly-tipped discussion.

Rob Cook, English teacher at Kingsdown School said: “The readathon gives the students the chance to read a range of books they wouldn’t normally choose. Through doing that they have the opportunity to broaden their horizons and recommend these books for other year groups.

“There is quite a range of ideas running through each of the books but they are fairly comparable to one another for discussion.

“It was great to see the students getting involved and for them to come together to discuss which book was their favourite and why."

The readathon, which has been running for the last 12 years, sees five books chosen between each of the school’s library resource managers for the students to read on a whole host of topics.

From books on the Second World War to racism, each of the carefully-selected novels hope to enlighten the Year 9 students on a variety of issues.

This year, the book that struck a chord with all of the students was Lisa Heathfield’s Paper Butterflies which touches on racism.

Rob added: “The books in the readathon were selected to appeal to both the male and female students and so we tried to make it something for everyone. It can be quite surprising to see what books some students like as opposed to others which is what the readathon is about.

“When the readathon was started, it was aimed at more reluctant readers but to keep the level of participation up over the years, we have made sure that students who enjoy reading take part as well.”