The National Curriculum places reading for pleasure at the heart of the English Curriculum. It states: Children should be encouraged to have an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum. Reading also feeds pupils’ imagination and opens up a treasure-house of wonder and joy for curious young minds.

More than a fifth of children and young people (22%) rarely or never read in their own time. Only 3 in 10 are reading daily. More than half (54%) prefer watching TV to reading. National Literacy Trust

Young people who enjoy reading very much are nearly five times as likely to read above the expected level for their age compared with young people who do not enjoy reading at all. Other benefits include a breath of vocabulary, pleasure in reading in later life, a better understanding of other cultures, better general knowledge and even ‘a greater insight into human nature’. National Literacy Trust

Reading in the National Curriculum Skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar words.

Comprehension Good comprehension draws from linguistic knowledge (in particular of vocabulary and grammar) and on knowledge of the world. Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non fiction. All pupils should be encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world.

Reading strategies that can help children understand even more about a text Predicting, skimming, scanning, close reading, questioning, empathising, visualising, reading backwards and forwards, inferring.

Example questions Year 2 The light from his lantern had fallen on an amazing sight, glowing like moonbeams against the midnight sky. The small miracle was actually a web. But never before had either of them seen such a wondrous Design! Which 3 words tell you how special the web was?

Yaw carefully detached the web from where it help fast to a banana tree. But as he did, the web collapsed, sticking to his fingers. Why did the web break? Yaw was not being careful. It was on a banana tree. It fell from Yaw’s finger. It was delicate.

“Perhaps what happened was a blessing,” Amma suggested gently. Why did she say it gently? The spider wove on and on into the afternoon, and the weavers stood in admiration as they watched. The beautiful spider had shown them how to weave new intricate designs. Why did they watch the spider for so long?

He’s starting to get on my nerves, the wolf thinks to himself. For the last two hours the boy has been standing in front of the wire fencing, as still as a frozen tree, watching the wolf walking. What do you know for definite? What do you think you know? What would you like to find out?

The boy standing in front of the wolf’s cage doesn’t move a muscle. The wolf paces backwards and forwards. He walks the length of the enclosure and back again without stopping. What do you know for definite? What do you think you know? What would you like to find out?

“ If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. ” ― Stephen King Stephen King “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!Dr. SeussI Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Other ideas See list of useful websites on the school website under ‘Reading’. Immerse young readers in words all around them Magazines are just as good as books but a bit more fun? Challenge children to read books of films watched and compare these Visit the local libraries – they are so helpful and free. They are running a ‘Big Friendly Read’ Roald Dahl summer reading challenge. Children's author John Dougherty will be visiting The Hive for a public event at 4-5pm on Wednesday 16 th March. School Reading Challenge coming soon Summer term - Readathon

Those who learn to read, read to learn.