It’s always a heart-warming sight to witness a child completely lost in a book, their imagination captured by the adventures that lie between the pages. However, in a world where screens are omnipresent, and children’s schedules are becoming increasingly crowded, prioritizing reading for pleasure can sometimes seem a challenge.
Nurturing a love of reading in a child's free time is a tangible way to equip children with the reading skills they need to thrive in school and beyond, as well as empower them with the chance to discover new things about themselves and the world around them. Unsurprisingly, research shows that benefits of reading for pleasure include:
How we encourage a love of reading
Here at BISC-LP, we are committed to creating a reading culture which enables children to experience those precious moments of being swept away by a story or submerged in a whole new world of knowledge.
Reading forms a vital building block of our curriculum. Across the school, pupils are exposed to a range of high-quality literature in their weekly English lessons, Guided Reading, and story-time. The wonderful works we explore in KS2 include:
Clockwork (Phillip Pullman)
Malala, My Story of Standing Up for Girls’ Rights (Malala Yousafzai)
Our Tower (Joseph Coelho and Richard Johnson)
In the younger years, beautiful picture books with powerful messages, such as Wild by Emily Hughes, enrich the curriculum. Through access to this diverse ‘reading diet’, children absorb rich language, clever story-telling, and new concepts. Accessing these at school helps pave the way for independent reading at home, as children feel inspired to seek out similar books and authors.
Our large school library, staffed by a full-time librarian, is bursting with books for all ages. The shelves are filled with age-appropriate treasures, from non-fiction and classic novels to poetry anthologies and picture books. In weekly library sessions, our students browse with guidance from our librarian, borrowing a selection of titles to enjoy at home - all in a calm and peaceful reading environment. Student ‘Library Leaders’ relish the opportunity to take on the responsibility of helping out in the library.
Developing good reading habits
Since happy reading experiences lead to more frequent reading, it is important for young readers to have freedom of choice. Non-fiction is just as vital as fiction – no longer ‘dry and dusty’, information texts are engaging and visually stimulating. They impart knowledge, inspire curiosity, and build cultural capital. Sophisticated picture books encourage deep thinking, weaving words, images, and layered meanings to tell their story. Poetry celebrates wordplay and is fun to read aloud. Graphic novels, a contentious new category, have hit the children’s book world by storm – however, whilst they may seem less substantial than traditional texts, these accessible and captivating stories are often well-told and provide a fantastic gateway into other text types. Extending the diet metaphor further: everything in moderation!
Building a buzz around books
Finally, creating excitement around reading does wonders for its profile. At BISC-LP we invite parents into school as “mystery readers”, a delightful way to create a buzz about books in the classroom. We are also committed to hosting our eagerly awaited bi-annual Book Fair and look forward to various author talks this year. Paired reading across the school is a valuable way to get children talking about books and for our older and younger learners to connect over a fantastic story.
Moments like these can spark a love of literature to last a lifetime.
If you would like to find out more about how we create a reading culture at BISC-LP, please come visit us! Contact the Admissions Team to book a tour or attend an Open House.
Mary Warrillow
Year 4 Teacher
Year 5 Teacher and Social Impact & Global Campus Leader, Carlie Ennis shares thoughts on empowering children in elementary school to have a voice, and the profound impact it has on their growth and development.
