Can’t Read Won’t Read

As part of the Outstanding Reading School project, Oxford University Press’ competition winners, Baines’ Endowed School, have been working to revamp their reading culture. James Clements explains how...

When we first visited Baines to begin the project last year, key stage leader Nicola Clarke explained that although her school focused on helping every child to learn to read, this didn’t always extend to helping children develop a positive attitude to reading. This observation was supported by the results of pre-project questionnaires, which found that only 36 per cent of staff felt the school helped to develop children’s love of reading.

As Mark Twain famously said, “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read”, and this is the message that sits at the heart of the Outstanding Reading School approach. Choosing to read regularly brings with it so many advantages. Recent research carried out at London’s Institute of Education suggests that children who enjoy reading don’t just become stronger readers, but perform better right across the curriculum. In fact, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says that “Developing a love of reading can be more important for a child’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic background”. This was exactly what the project set out to do. Alongside the development of a rich and rigorous English curriculum, time and resources would be spent on promoting reading at Baines, trying to create a sense of excitement about books and literature. This is how the school went about it:

• The first step was also the simplest - to get the message across to staff that they could have a profound impact on children’s attitude to reading. Through teaching using exciting and motivating texts, modeling reading behavior and sharing an enthusiasm for reading, staff could help children to discover the joy of reading. The school ran specific CPD around this idea, inviting staff to share their ideas with one another. 
• All children across the school are now involved in choosing the books they wish to read, rather than being handed a new book selected for them by a Teaching Assistant. Giving children a choice in what they read is crucial in helping them to see themselves as readers and allows them to follow their interests, but an adult is always on hand to offer advice.
• An easy-to-use system for monitoring reading at home has been introduced. The focus is on children reading with their parents regularly, with a bookmark that records how often children read aloud. Nicola noted that ‘it’s easy to administrate without being too onerous and becoming a source of tension with families. The focus has to be on children and their parents enjoying a book, and that means not immediately following-up reading with a writing activity’.
• A new incentive scheme has been introduced that stretches right across the school- the ‘100 Books Award’. Any books listed as read in children’s Reading Record, both at home and at school count towards the total. There are small incentives on the way, such as merits and stickers, but the main prize is a nice metal badge awarded in assembly when they reach 100 books. They can wear this on their uniform every day, proving that they’re members of the ‘100 Book Club’. The award is open to staff at the school too, something Nicola hoped would ‘get our teachers / TAs reading more children’s books too!’
• Under the plans at Baines, the library was to become the heart of reading at the school. Money was spent on a hand-made storyteller’s chair, surrounded by woodland tree stumps that are actually beanbag stools, making a previously unloved space into somewhere it was pleasurable to curl up and read. Every class was given a timetabled library slot to ensure the library was used as well as possible.

Following this second stage of the project, Nicola reported a great deal of excitement from children about reading throughout school. In fact, several groups of KS2 pupils approached her about whether they could run book clubs for the infants. The next challenge was to maintain the excitement about reading, working to strengthen the school’s positive reading culture, ultimately helping every child to become a life-long reader.

About the author

James Clements is an independent English adviser. He is the author of Building an Outstanding Reading School. You can find the report and case studies by visiting http://www.outstandingreading.org