Reading for Pleasure in the new National Curriculum- June conference

Did you know how important it is going to be to have reading for pleasure as part of your curriculum?

“Pupils should be taught to read fluently, understand extended prose (both fiction and non-fiction) and be encouraged to read for pleasure. Schools should do everything to promote wider reading. They should provide library facilities and set ambitious expectations for reading at home. “

The New Curriculum, which comes into force in September this year for all but Years 2 and 6 (they will need to follow it from next year), starts the reading framework with the above paragraph.  From Year 1 the statutory requirements clearly state that children should be reading for pleasure. Most teachers already know this and make it an essential part of their teaching- there is rarely anything entirely new!

Reading for pleasure is of course, something we all wish for the children we teach and so is a welcome development that will hopefully have real and lasting impact on the children currently in primary school.  Studies have found that reading for pleasure is more important to a child's educational achievement than their family's wealth or social class, which is certainly something to stop and make you think. If it has that much power it ought to be the focus of everything we do.  Yet until this move for a new curriculum it has never been a focus of much attention in many schools as it does not appear in any SATs scores or league tables. But taking it to the logical conclusion, if you get the reading for pleasure bit right, you are improving those scores as children do better when they are children who read for pleasure.

So how do you encourage reading for pleasure? And how do you measure progress in reading for pleasure? (No wonder there is very little assessment guidance available!)  Of course we all want the children we teach to be reading for pleasure, but how can you actually make it happen? What resources might you need and what might you need to change in your current curriculum to promote a love of books and make it central to all that you do?

On 11th June there will be a whole day conference in Enfield, North London, which will begin to explore some of these issues. With guest speakers from a wide range of backgrounds, the day aims to motivate you to come to grips with the reading for pleasure aspect of the New Curriculum.

The author Joe Craig will be running one of the sessions. Joe has written many books around the character Jimmy Coates and is not only a great speaker, he is one of those authors boys love to read. Also attending will be Margaret Bright from Enfield Schools Library Service, to talk about, among other things, the summer Library Reading Challenge and the new Reading for Pleasure library boxes. Ruth Fairclough from Bookstart will be doing a session, as will Gina Menon from Raynham Primary, to talk about the wonderful  library they have at the school.  In addition there will be sessions on the background and research into the impact of reading for pleasure and how you can incorporate it into the life of the school.

This day promises to be an exciting one and not one to be missed. Book your place now as spaces are limited and will be given on a strictly first come first served basis.

Contact jacqueline.harris@hotmail.co.uk to book your place now.