English Department: Making Reading FUNdamental for students. “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body…”

When George R. R. Martin wrote “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one,” he tapped into one of the greatest ideas about the pleasures of reading, the sheer enjoyment of a great story! All too often we only approach reading for its fundamental value as an educational tool or necessity but seldom do our students or parents consider the immense value of reading for Fun.

The English Department are wanting to encourage parents and students this year to improve literacy and engage more in reading, and actually read for FUN! This may mean reading a number of forms, genres and mediums until you find something that speaks to you. When a student reads by choice, they are actually doing something to build the fundamental literacy skills necessary for their education, but it doesn’t feel laborious because they are enjoying the task. The English department understands the necessity in having strong reading skills. For a student to just access the GCSE public examinations in year 11 they must have a minimum reading age of 15 years, if they have seldom or never exercised their reading skills then the development cannot grow and progress over the years.

Regular reading is an absolute necessity for all students as: “Evidence suggests that children who read for 40 minutes every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background.” (Pearson) As such, the English Department is making reading one of its key priorities for this year, and we would love parent support at home, encouraging your child to read widely and regularly, even having them read to you.