Students at Ashley Hill Primary School will receive hand-made bags full of books to encourage them to read before going to sleep.

The Onchan school’s ’Big Bedtime Read’ is for reception (ages four to five) and Year 1 (ages five to six).

It encourages parents and carers to go through stories with their children every night.

The initiative is hoped to create a love of learning and reading from an early age.

The bags were made by the school sewing club, which is run by Ann Isaac, a senior education support officer.

Inside are a range of age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction books. Each bag is numbered with the name of the books inside on the label, which is sewn on the front of the bag.

’The bag can be swapped as soon as a child has finished using it, but there is no time limit as there are enough bags for all children in reception and Year 1, plus extras,’ a spokesman said. ’Last year we ran two very successful reading challenges - the Parish Read and the TT Read.

’The whole school was enthused and it demonstrated their love of reading in many ways, whilst also developing fluency and reading skills.

’We wanted to extend this to our new reception intake, to encourage a love of reading for them and their parents whilst sharing stories, and to keep our Year 1s engaged and motivated to read more.’

The scheme is also a chance for children and parents to bond.

The school thanked Talbot Blinds & Son, which provided the fabric.