Reading for pleasure has been defined by the National Literacy Trust as, “reading that we do of our own free will, anticipating the satisfaction that we will get from the act of reading. It also refers to reading that, having begun at someone else’s request, we continue because we are interested in it.” (Clark and Rumbold, National Literacy Trust)
“Parents and the home environment are essential to the early teaching of reading and fostering a love of reading; children are more likely to continue to be readers in homes where books and reading are valued.” (Clark and Rumbold, National Literacy Trust) “Having access to resources and having books of their own has an impact on children’s attainment. There is a positive relationship between the estimated number of books in the home and attainment (Clark 2011). Children who have books of their own enjoy reading more and read more frequently.” (Clark and Poulton 2011, National Literacy Trust) The research that underpins the strategies developed in schools across the nation to encourage Reading for Pleasure is now over a decade old. Since the Government report, ‘Research evidence on reading for pleasure’ published by the Education Standards Research Team in 2012, schools’ understanding of the impact of reading for pleasure has been strengthened. Successive research reports have all confirmed the correlation between reading for pleasure and academic success. More recently in 2019, Renaissance UK published the 'biggest-ever' literacy study called What Kids Are Reading, which studied the reading habits of more than a million children in 5,000 schools in the UK and Ireland. The report concluded that when children read for at least 15 minutes a day - and understand what they are reading, accelerated progress in reading comprehension is seen. (Optimal progress is achieved at thirty minutes of reading a day.) From the beginning of primary school to the end of secondary school, pupils with an average daily reading time of more than 30 minutes are likely to encounter 13.7million words, while pupils who average less than 15minutes are likely to encounter 1.5 million. We know vocabulary plays a critical role in reading achievement; more than half the variance in student reading comprehension scores can be explained by the depth and breadth of a child’s vocabulary knowledge.
In an analysis of the scores of 174,000 international students who sat the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), it was revealed that students who spent more time reading, read more diverse texts, and saw reading as a valuable activity scored higher on the PISA’s combined reading literacy scale. Interestingly, students with high reading engagement scored significantly above the international average on the combined reading literacy scale, regardless of their family background. The opposite was also true, with students with low reading engagement scoring significantly below the international average, no matter their socioeconomic status.
The full report can be read here: https://www.renaissance.com/2018/01/23/blog-magic-15-minutes-reading-practice-reading-growth/
It is therefore an essential part of my role as Head of English here at Edge Grove, to work with families and encourage children to love and value books, and spend time reading. To this end, I will be running a book sale on Saturday 4th December at the Friends of Edge Grove Christmas Fair and have sourced hundreds of good quality new books, for ages 3-14 years, to put into their hands – or your bags! - in time for the holidays. Prices will be less than the RRP and no more than prices online. All profits will be reabsorbed to fund future book sales and buy new books for the schools’ libraries. I would love to see you there!
Over the next two weeks leading up to the sale, do look out for taster pictures on the Edge Grove English Twitter feed - @EdgeGEnglish and come early to avoid disappointment! Here is a small selection of the books chosen mainly for ages 7 to 13 years:
Take a Shelfie!
I am delighted to share the results from the Take a Shelfie photo competition. We had lots of great entries and all children who entered will be given a bookmark. The photos that caught the judges’ eyes and are highly commended are these:
We loved these reading snugs that Edward and Sophie created:
Summer and David decided they would be the shelves!
We were impressed that Kiersten and Daniel had taken their books out and about on holiday
We loved the clever photoshopping from Flora of her very tiny brother George, and William whose head makes an excellent bookend!
We loved this picture of Anaisha that reminds us of the importance of reading when young:
But our favourite picture of all was this one of Bella which totally encapsulates the joy of reading in that fabulous smile. Bella wins a book voucher to be used at the Christmas Fair where she will have a £10 token to spend on the book stall.