Children of all ages at Chilton Primary in Ramsgate are eagerly involved in regular ‘reading for pleasure’ sessions. The subject matter varies widely and pupils are encouraged to explore as many differing types of material and style as possible.
This includes song lyrics, travel guides, following ‘how to’ guides, musical reading games, reading subtitles, discovering and sharing menus, exploring children’s newspapers and magazines, reading books to each other, exploring poems and limericks, cosy story time, telling stories to each other, exploring cookery books and science magazines and much more.
An important aspect of the initiative is that children are encouraged to choose where and with who they take part with. They are then asked to rate their reading for pleasure experiences.
This choice and feedback encourages the readers to share and enjoy these times with their peers and to also voice their likes and dislikes.
To further encourage reading for pleasure the school holds a Read At 3 session for parents, who are invited in to school every Friday at 3pm to share a book with their children as a positive way to end each week.
Teacher Helen Rowland-Hill is Chilton’s English lead. She said: “We know that reading is incredibly important to our children’s outcomes and at Chilton we provide a wide range of reading activities to inspire and engage them.
“Reading enjoyment is an important life skill that we want to pass on to our children.”
University of Cambridge research shows that reading isn’t just a pleasurable experience – it’s widely accepted that it inspires thinking and creativity, increases empathy and reduces stress and is linked to important developmental factors in children.
Deputy Head of School Hannah Cheshire added: “Literacy is a cornerstone of our learning and the reading for pleasure initiative is an integral part of our curriculum. It involves all of our classes and is very popular with children.”
Leave a Reply