Reading at the heart of our school

Teaching children to read, to appreciate the value of reading for pleasure, and to use reading skills in a variety of contexts is absolutely vital to us at Clore Shalom.  These skills are life-long abilities which affect childrens’ success across the entire curriculum, through primary and secondary school.  Reading is not just about education, it is a vital life skill.  Being able to read, and being able to access reading for pleasure is an important way of accessing wellbeing and enjoyment.  Research shows the importance of strong reading skills and the propensity to read for pleasure:

• Evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment and attainment (Clark 2011; Clark and Douglas 2011).
• Reading enjoyment has been reported as more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status (OECD, 2002).
• Other benefits to reading for pleasure include: text comprehension and grammar, positive reading attitudes, pleasure in reading in later life, increased general knowledge (Clark and Rumbold, 2006)

Why should children read?

• Improved literacy and communication skills
• Better mental health and wellbeing
• Improved social skills
• Better job opportunities and progress in adult life
• Increase our self esteem and be more confident
• Open a door to other cultures and perspectives
• Be more creative and imaginative
• Do better at school, right across the curriculum
• Get a better night’s sleep
• Improved vocabulary

How does reading for pleasure affect academic achievement?

20  minutes of reading per day:

• 3600 minutes per school year
• 1800000 words per year
• Scores in the top 10% of standardised tests

5 minutes of reading per day:

• 900 minutes per school year
• 282 000 words per year
• Scores average 50% on standardised tests

1 minute of reading per day:

• 180 minutes per school year
• 8000 words per year
• Scores in the bottom 10% of standardised tests

Reading at Clore Shalom. 

We don’t just teach children how to read through phonics.  Learning to read is so much more – we teach the skills of comprehension, we encourage children to share their thoughts and feelings and books, and we run a variety of activities throughout the school year to encourage reading for pleasure.  Through events like World Book Day and National Storytelling Week, to our half termly school book club, to author visits, to weekly book reviews in class, to our termly whole school book, to the class novel, reading permeates everything we do.  Carefully chosen books are also an important way for us to introduce elements of our Personal Development and Behaviour curriculum. 

To show how seriously we take reading development, from Reception to Year 5, reading is our only homework.  Each child has a book they are able to read, and they are expected to read for five minutes minimum every day.  This is carefully logged and checked by our class teachers every morning.

We look forward to you joining us on our reading journey.