Fostering a love of reading

A valuable reading programme with a competitive edge is helping to foster a love of reading for students in Years 4–6 and expose them to a variety of authors and genres.

Throughout the year, students take part in the Wide Reading Awards, recording all the books they have read across a range of specified genres, as they work towards bronze, silver, and gold awards, depending on the number of books they have read.

Head of Middle Syndicate, Megan Feller, says by Year 4, many students are already discovering their favourite authors or genres. “What I love about the programme is that it takes students from learning to read, which is the main focus in Years 1–3, to reading for pleasure. It’s wonderful to see students having aha moments with new authors they are discovering as part of the programme.”

Megan says Preparatory School Library Manager, Tracey Hull, does an ‘amazing’ job organising and facilitating the programme, helping students to develop a love of reading in the school’s vibrant Library environment, which has an incredible turnover of 26,000 books a year.

A significant amount of time is spent in the Library guiding students through their wide reading journey and helping to match readers and books, explains Tracey. “It helps we know the students well, and that they all love coming to the Library. We encourage the children to read at their own level and broaden their horizons. The purpose is to encourage reading for pleasure, as there is a great deal of research suggesting this is one of the greatest indicators of academic success.”

The wide reading programme has been running since 2011, but since Tracey took over in 2017, the focus has shifted from awarding just the top readers, to giving all students the opportunity to succeed. “A group of 29 students achieved their Gold Wide Reading award in 2023, with many of these students completing more than one booklet. We also support our dyslexic readers to achieve in the programme, with a great selection of specific books for dyslexic readers available for them to enjoy.”

Genres the students in Years 4–5 explore include everything from adventure, thriller or detective, classics or modern classics, animal stories, and short stories or graphic novels, to fantasy fiction or science fiction. In Year 6, the genres expand to include historical and war fiction stories and non-fiction or biography.

Gold awards are presented at each end-of-term assembly, with students receiving a voucher enabling them to choose a book at the Scholastic Book Fair at the end of the year.

As a reader herself, Tracey says the best part of the programme is listening to the children tell her about the stories they have read. “You can see the light in their eyes when they recount a story they have enjoyed, almost acting out the plot. Some of them get very animated and it’s a real joy to witness.”