Www.readingconnects.org.uk Getting the whole school reading 5 July 2006 Getting the whole school...

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Getting the whole school reading

5 July 2006

Getting the whole school reading

Julia StrongDirector, National Reading CampaignDeputy Director, National Literacy Trustwww.literacytrust.org.uk


Imagine what a difference it would make if every child

loved to read


“To read is to soar. It is to fly to a point of vantage.”

– AC Grayling


The power of reading

“Being more enthusiastic about reading and a frequent reader was more of an advantage, on its own, than having well-educated parents in good jobs.” - Reading for Change, OECD


Select the statement that sums up your school’s attitude to developing a love of reading

1. It is a key whole-school priority

2. It is just one of many priorities

3. It has been subsumed by a range of other priorities


What was the greatest influence in turning you into a reader?


What image does reading have in your school?

• Put yourself in the shoes of a new pupil entering your school and think about what messages they get about reading as they walk around the school.

• Tick the appropriate column on the handout

Excellent / Some / No / Don’t evidence evidence know


Getting the whole school reading audit – where are we now?

Aspect Emergent Intermediate Very good

Whole-school environment

Cross-curricular links

Tutor time

Events

School library


What schools say about the audit

• “The audit process was in itself really useful. I thought we already did quite a lot to promote reading for pleasure in our school but the audit gave me new ideas and inspiration.”

• “The audit process was simple, easy to manage and acknowledged what we were already doing. So many awards are paper-chasing, time-consuming mechanisms that can actually prevent a school from doing what it’s meant to be doing – not so Reading Connects.”


Practical suggestions Make reading visible

Set up a display in the main foyer of children, staff (including cooks, school keeper etc) and parents promoting their favourite reads (include comics and magazines)

Get the pupils to create screen savers to promote good reads


Get Caught Reading posters

•Current reading•What I read yesterday•History of reading

Extreme reading

Mrs HanleyEAL teacher


Use the power of recommendation Establish Postcards from the Gap

• Liaise with local schools so that Year 6 pupils send their summer reading recommendations to their new school for display in tutor rooms

• And/or at the end of a year get the pupils to send reading recommendations to the incoming year

Speed dating


Establish class group top 10 reads

Each class establishes and

displays its 10 recommended reads and groups exchange recommendations to establish each year’s top 10 reads.

(Encourage the inclusion of non-fiction texts and comics)


Involve the pupils

Set up buddying schemes

Train older pupils to support younger pupils reading


Involve the pupils in a makeover of the school library/school foyer

Let the pupils create special sections for• great sports reads• great books for boys• great books for girls


Involving the whole school in building a reading culture

Sort the suggestions into

Useful Not useful Useful later

Now discuss any additional ideas that have worked


Download the DVDs from

Best Reading Connects Secondary School of 2005 was awarded to…

•Loxford School, Redbridge


Finding out what pupils think about reading

• Introduce the reading-autobiography approach: “I took to reading like…”

• Use the Reading Connects questionnaire


Our survey findings from over 8000

pupils were largely positive but… • 11% of pupils, the majority of whom were boys,

did not enjoy reading at all. They said that they would read more if books were shorter, had more pictures and were about things that interested them

• Almost half the pupils never or almost never talked about reading with their family

• A quarter of pupils reported that their father never spent any time reading

• Pupils stated that their mother encourages them to read more frequently than their father


Why parental involvement is key“Parental involvement in their child’s reading has been found to be the most important determinant of language and emergent literacy.”

- Bus, van Jzendoorn and Pellegrini, 1995

A study of the reading skills of 15-year-olds in 32 countries found that children who enjoyed reading did better at school, and that the children who were most interested in reading were those whose parents talked to them about reading and had books and other reading materials at home.


I believe that becoming a successful reader opens all doors to future learning. Learning to read is the single most important skill for children to develop. Our recognition for reading at home not only rewards the child, but also acknowledges the tremendous support from parents and other adults at home. If we believe that learning can be supported in partnership with parents, if we believe that learning is a lifelong process and not confined to school days, and if we believe that reading success is a vital life skill, then we need to explore every avenue to make important things happen. Nothing is more important that learning to read. – Headteacher Kennall Vale School, Cornwall


Working with the parents

The Reading Connects Family Engagement toolkit will be available on line from early November full of practical ideas about how to engage parents in supporting reading – including a special section on engaging fathers.


Getting the boys and their fathers on board:

How creating Reading Champions can get the boys and men reading


• Focusing on the boys - because statistically boys lag

significantly behind girls in engaging with reading

• but still engaging the girls - schools are encouraged to use a

similar approach in engaging girls (Reading Angels) but the external recognition from the National Reading Campaign is reserved for boys only


What puts boys off reading?


1. Repeat after me ‘learn to read not learn to enjoy reading’

2. Thou shalt read what, when and where we tell you, silently

3. Thou shalt complete every book that thou starteth, no skipping or browsing

4. Verily your reading should progress in a strict fashion, re-reading is forbidden

5. Digest, analyse and deconstruct your favourite books – strip them of any joy

6. Thou must read big thick books that were written hundreds of years ago for, behold! they are the classics

7. Thou shalt only read books, for truly, they are the only proper reading materials

8. Thou shalt not consider newspapers, magazines, or Heaven forbid, comics as reading. There is no such novel as a ‘graphic’ novel

9. Thy reading preferences must be open to ridicule by others who think they knowest better

10. Thou must cultivate an air of being ‘un-cool’; all readers shall be slightly smelly, unpopular and unattractive

The Ten Reading Commandments(or how I learned to hate reading)


What motivates boys to read

Find out what motivates your boys – ask them.We surveyed 1,500 boys

Q: Top ten celebrities? (281 different people were named as influences sharing 704 votes)

A: Six footballers, two rappers, one page three model and an author

Q: Top ten hobbies? (130 different responses)A: Sport, sport, sport, music, girls and gaming

Q: Top ten groups?A: Sportsmen, the services, the army, pilots and family


What motivates boys & men• Peers and role models

• Ownership/responsibility

• They like to do stuff and want it to have a point

• Reward-orientated

• Competition

• The male ego!


• Bronze Champions stand up and declare their enthusiasm for reading

• Silver Champions are involved in schemes to encourage other boys and men to read

• Gold Champions make an outstanding contribution to the school reading culture

"Our boys in school think being a Reading Champion is great because they can celebrate being readers and being one of the lads." - Glyn Turner, Headmaster, Leighton Primary School, Crewe

School Reading Champions involving boys in building a reading culture


Reading Champion activities• Reading walls – photos of the boys up

next to Reading Champions posters

• Boys’ books displays – wide variety of materials

• Reading games – Guess who?

• Community role models – firemen, postal workers, graphic designers talking about the relevance of reading


Reading Champion activities

Discuss the 10 activities and select

• The top three suggestions• The least promising suggestion

Then see if you can come up with anadditional idea that is a winner for getting boys involved with their own reading


“Books have been a lifeline for me”

“I discovered who I was through reading”

Fathers at a Dads Matter meeting,Lewisham, London

Reading Champion dads


Reading Champion dads• Encouraging more dads and other males to

come to school to model reading and to talk positively to boys about the benefits and value of reading

• Encouraging dads to read with their children at home

• Encouraging dads to take an interest in their own learning journey

• Encouraging children to go home and ask their dad to sit and read with them


Certificates and badges


Reading Champions posters

“I am putting them everywhere and the boys are thrilled to see their heroes up on the walls (actually the girls are too but for different reasons I suspect). The response has been amazing!” - Teacher


Making the link with football

Ideas and resources for promoting reading to boys •Football-related projects in clubs

•Football-based literacy activities

•Posters

•‘Reading the Game – The Movie!’ A free DVD in Match-of-the-Day-style format, featuring England players talking about what, when and why they love reading

www.readingthegame.org.uk

http://www.readingthegame.org.uk/


Downloadable resources

•Stickers

•Bookmarks

•Bookplates


Reading Champion book boxes

• In partnership with Badger publishing

• Chosen by teachers, book experts, celebrity and author Champions, and boys

• Three boxes: 7-9, 9-11, 11-14

• A wide range of interests, reading abilities and genres


The power of reading "It occurred to me that the only reason I was here was because of reading; it was the reason I began to climb. There is something about reading which takes you beyond the constrictions of space and time, frees you from the limitations of social interaction and allows you to escape. Whoever you encounter within the pages of a book, whatever lives you vicariously live with them can affect you deeply - entertain you briefly, change your view of the world, open your eyes to a wholly different concept of living and the value of life. Books can be the immortality that some seek; thoughts and words left for future generations to hear from beyond the grave and awaken a memory of another's life."

- Joe Simpson: The Beckoning Silence


How to move forward

Create a supportive structure

• Build a team of enthusiasts• Convert the headteacher• Pilot ideas involving the pupils in

developing the approach


How to move forward

• List two or three key barriers to progress

• List two or three key levers to assist progress

• Now list the key things that need doing to move forward

• Decide on two key actions


If we work together, our combined expertise and enthusiasm could make every school a reading school and every child a reader

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