Reading at Newnham Croft

It is important that children are motivated to read regularly; when their reading miles increase, so does their fluency and stamina which in turn increases their enjoyment of reading. Therefore, the link between children’s motivation to read and reading for pleasure is reciprocal. Furthermore, we know that reading pleasure is beneficial not only for not only reading outcomes, but for wider learning enjoyment and mental wellbeing. Thus, we work hard to foster a love of independent reading and build communities of engaged readers. We believe that reading for pleasure should be a fundamental part of childhood and life-long learning:

• Children deserve a rich curriculum which encourages extensive reading of whole books and other kinds of texts.
• The active encouragement of reading for pleasure is a core part of every child's educational entitlement, whatever their background or attainment.
• Extensive reading and exposure to a wide range of texts make a huge contribution to children’s educational achievement.
• Children are encouraged to read texts which reflect the heritage of minor ethnic groups.
• Children are allowed to explore and engage with texts in their native language, whatever that might be.
• All children should have access to a wide range of texts in different formats and genres and support in enjoying them where necessary.

We will support and encourage children to read for pleasure. They may chose to read fiction, nonfiction, poetry, picture books, the same book over and over, comics, magazines and so on. At school we teach the skills required for reading - decoding (using a variety of strategies, including phonics) and comprehension. However school reading should not only be seen as synonymous with 'work' as this can cause children to become turned off from books and reading.