Reading for pleasure is promoted at Foxhole Learning Academy, whilst we teach the skills for reading through our reading lessons, we also want children to choose their own books to read of their own volition. 

 

We are beginning with our own subject knowledge. In order to successfully foster Reading for Pleasure, the Teachers as Readers research project found that teachers need a wide and up to date knowledge of children’s literature and other texts.

Developing this subject knowledge enables teachers to:

• Engage enthusiastically and reciprocally as readers in school
• Make one to one reader recommendations tailored to specific children
• Articulate an informed and strategic rationale for selecting/using texts as part of their RfP pedagogy
• Identify multi-layered texts that inspire and enrich literary experiences
• Build reciprocal and interactive reader to reader relationships with staff and children.

We are beginning with refurbishing our school library and have begun to audit our books so that there is a wide range of both fiction and non-fiction texts which reflect the world in which we live today. This will give us a strong foundation, in which we will be able to confidently use Book Talk to recommend books which are linked to the children's interests and also allow us to introduce new titles which the children may not have considered before which will widen their reading palette. 

Gallery of Book Opening Pages

Around the school, we have displayed these opening pages from a wide range of books to foster book talk and to encourage children to go on and read the books. We have a copy of each in the library. This is a great way for children to discover new authors and discover an exciting to story to immerse themselves in. It is lovely to see the children stop and read them and say 'Ooooh that looks good, I want to read that!' We have overheard conversations where other children will say they have read it and recommended it to their friends!

These pages have been printed for the Literacy Shed and also from posters that arrive with our 'Reading Rocks' subscription each term. 

 

Reading for Pleasure-Golden Book Bags

Each Friday, all of our weekly Citizens also take home a Golden Book Bag. Each book has been carefully chosen by the class teacher to match the Citizen's interests and hobbies; also included in each bag is hot chocolate and some biscuits. The idea is that the children take some time to share and enjoy a book with an adult over the weekend. If they want to, they can leave a review for the next Citizen too, so that future Citizens may choose to select this book for themselves at a later date. Over the year, this builds a bank of reviews and a wide range of books to read based on the recommendations of their peers. 

Ethnicity, Diversity & Equality Book List

At Foxhole Learning Academy, we are preparing our children to become good citizens on a local, national, and global scale. We want them to understand ethnicity, diversity and equality and it is imperative that all children SEE themselves in books whatever their background. 

We have compiled a list of books featuring themes of Equality, Inclusion, Ethnicity & Diversity and also with other PSHE themes. This is not intended to be a complete list, just the start of a collection of titles put together which show a diverse range of authors, characters and themes which can be shared with children of all ages.

Picture storybooks are encouraged to be used in all year groups throughout EYFS, KS1 and KS2.