2 minute read
Education News
from SE21 October 2022
by SE Magazines
Encouraging Reading in Secondary School
Education News from Alleyn's | www.alleyns.org.uk
Esther O’Donnell, Librarian at Alleyn’s, discusses the importance of children reading for pleasure in secondary school and how you can encourage your child to maintain the habit. L earning to read and progressing from picture to chapter books is a big achievement in primary school but sometimes, reading for pleasure risks being relegated when a child starts secondary school. A new school, new subjects, friends, more homework or more sport can all take precedence, but continuing to read is important.
Communication Skills
Children who read regularly develop large vocabularies. This will influence how well your child will write, speak and perform in tests and interviews.
Empathy
A good book can help your child understand other lives and experiences which may be very different to their own. Developing this empathy through books will help your child build and maintain social relationships, not just in school but throughout their lives.
Stress Reduction
Losing themselves in a story can help your child relax. Reading can be a space for escapism. Just 30 minutes of reading can lower blood pressure and stress as effectively as yoga according to a 2009 study conducted by Sussex University researchers.
A Healthy Brain
Exercising the brain with activities such as reading, will keep your child’s mind engaged and improve their memory, with knock-on effects for the rest of their schooling.
The Right Books
Encourage your child to be a regular visitor to their school library and talk to their school librarian! Many children are put off reading because they don’t like the characters or the genre, or the language is too challenging. Librarians knows and love books and will help your child find the ‘right’ books for them. We are great at matching the right book with the right child - it might take a little trial and error, but we will get there! There are also some fantastic online resources to help children choose the right book (see below to get started).
The Classics Can Wait
While it is tempting to recommend a classic or a book that appears on a ‘must read’ list, this can be daunting for a child who is out of the reading habit. Graphic novels, manga or the latest thrilling page turner can be better and don’t forget biographies or fact books. Subjects that interest pupils are a good gateway to getting back to reading.
Last Words
When a child returns a book and tells me how much they loved it and we then talk about it, is one of the best things about my job. As Alan Bennett said: “The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things -which you had thought special and peculiar to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone who is even long dead. And it’s as if a hand has come out and taken yours.”
