‘Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s future success’ OECD, 2002.
At Newhall Park, we want our pupils to thrive. We place reading at the centre of our curriculum and we are passionate about nurturing a love of reading. We are committed to providing a more satisfying and diverse range of texts in school as well as continuing our investment in a growing accessible provision of rich and varied literature. We understand the importance of reading for pleasure for both educational purposes as well as personal development and we know that it offers so many significant benefits to children, including increased attainment in literacy and numeracy; improved general knowledge; richer vocabulary; support in identity exploration; and enhancement of imagination and empathy. In order to maximise these benefits, we are determined to create opportunities that develop:
• teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature
• teachers’ knowledge of children’s reading practices
• social reading environments
• reading aloud to children
• pupils’ independent reading
• informal book talk
• teachers who read and readers who teach
• reading communities