Thank you :) I think opening the doors to conversations around the 'why' (with any important strategy or approach, to all stake holders) is a valuable place to start.
Hey! I've had the good fortune to have spent the first six years of my teaching career at a school that went on to become one of the OURfP Schools of the Year. I still work with them now, running my projects each year, and it's been interesting to be in a school for what is now my 13th year, to see its RfP journey.
When I joined in 2011 as a trainee it was already a school that took literacy seriously - an enormous focus on good phonics teaching meant that despite the literal highest EAL percentage (99.7% when I was there, and similar now) they always had very good (tested) outcomes at KS1/KS2.
What happened when the focus shifted to really invest in the principle and practices of Reading for Pleasure was a great deepening. It is still the only school I go to where most children come in and immediately start chatting about the book they are reading - with each other, with teachers. The teachers do a lot of training focused on it, and their book corners are well invested-in, and are - in most cases - very heavily supplemented by teachers' own obsessively-hoarded collections.
The talk is what stands out to me. Kids come in and are like "Miss, I've just done Book 4 of _____ series, I can't wait for Book 5, have you read it yet?"
This isn't to say that the talk is the only thing that matters, but for me, I see it as the most reliable 'symptom' of how embedded and sustained the reading culture has become there, and continues to be. Some of the Y5 classes I teach in have such well-curated class libraries, they are genuinely comparable to the offerings kids would get if they walked into the local specialist children's book shop.
So it's all of them together. Teachers actually getting stuck into children's literature and enjoying it. Children finding the books that make them interested. Time being protected to read together in class, no matter how much else is going on.
In response to your RfP posts then, I agree with you, and in my experience it is very easy to take the first steps to implement a Reading for Pleasure culture; the challenge is deepening and sustaining.
Hi Jonny, thank you so much for taking the time to share your valuable insights. How amazing to have been on the ground and part of the development of a OURfP School of the Year! A real accolade.
You have hit the nail on the head with the talk element. I think it is what most practitioners dream of. That innate drive and interest of children discussing and getting excited about reading. This is what I hope to have presented in my posts. It really is not a "quick fix" and there is not a blanket model to embed this culture. It is a blend of a number of approaches which I believe work best when a school really does take the time to understand the needs and motivations of its own unique communities, cohorts and staff members.
I absolutely love the sound of the classroom libraries, which sound like they have been curated with such care and authentic interest. This too is a 'symptom' of practices and principles being successfully embedded, on the part of the staff members. The deepening and sustaining is absolutely the goal - I believe this is where implementation meet authenticity.
Great post Laura, full of practical suggestions! I love the idea of involving parents too.
Thank you :) I think opening the doors to conversations around the 'why' (with any important strategy or approach, to all stake holders) is a valuable place to start.
Hey! I've had the good fortune to have spent the first six years of my teaching career at a school that went on to become one of the OURfP Schools of the Year. I still work with them now, running my projects each year, and it's been interesting to be in a school for what is now my 13th year, to see its RfP journey.
When I joined in 2011 as a trainee it was already a school that took literacy seriously - an enormous focus on good phonics teaching meant that despite the literal highest EAL percentage (99.7% when I was there, and similar now) they always had very good (tested) outcomes at KS1/KS2.
What happened when the focus shifted to really invest in the principle and practices of Reading for Pleasure was a great deepening. It is still the only school I go to where most children come in and immediately start chatting about the book they are reading - with each other, with teachers. The teachers do a lot of training focused on it, and their book corners are well invested-in, and are - in most cases - very heavily supplemented by teachers' own obsessively-hoarded collections.
The talk is what stands out to me. Kids come in and are like "Miss, I've just done Book 4 of _____ series, I can't wait for Book 5, have you read it yet?"
This isn't to say that the talk is the only thing that matters, but for me, I see it as the most reliable 'symptom' of how embedded and sustained the reading culture has become there, and continues to be. Some of the Y5 classes I teach in have such well-curated class libraries, they are genuinely comparable to the offerings kids would get if they walked into the local specialist children's book shop.
So it's all of them together. Teachers actually getting stuck into children's literature and enjoying it. Children finding the books that make them interested. Time being protected to read together in class, no matter how much else is going on.
In response to your RfP posts then, I agree with you, and in my experience it is very easy to take the first steps to implement a Reading for Pleasure culture; the challenge is deepening and sustaining.
Hi Jonny, thank you so much for taking the time to share your valuable insights. How amazing to have been on the ground and part of the development of a OURfP School of the Year! A real accolade.
You have hit the nail on the head with the talk element. I think it is what most practitioners dream of. That innate drive and interest of children discussing and getting excited about reading. This is what I hope to have presented in my posts. It really is not a "quick fix" and there is not a blanket model to embed this culture. It is a blend of a number of approaches which I believe work best when a school really does take the time to understand the needs and motivations of its own unique communities, cohorts and staff members.
I absolutely love the sound of the classroom libraries, which sound like they have been curated with such care and authentic interest. This too is a 'symptom' of practices and principles being successfully embedded, on the part of the staff members. The deepening and sustaining is absolutely the goal - I believe this is where implementation meet authenticity.