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Reading for Pleasure News – November
Welcome to our November newsletter! This month marks Non-fiction November, a celebration imagined by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups that highlights the importance of information books whilst also promoting reading non-fiction for pleasure. The theme for 2022 is Communication. We would love to hear how you’re celebrating – share the non-fiction book love by tagging @OpenUni_RfP in your social media posts so we can see what you’re reading.
On Friday, 11 November, the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) released 5 years of data in their annual Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK Children’s Literature showing that 20% of children’s books published in 2021 feature a minority ethnic character, a significant increase from the 4% reported in 2017. Funded by Arts Council England, the annual survey focuses on determining the extent and quality of ethnic minority characters featured within UK Picture fiction, Fiction and Non-Fiction for ages 3–11. This is absolutely essential reading for every teacher to ensure that book collections are diverse and representative of all readers’ realities.
The Children’s Digital Book Award is the only award focused on children’s reading on screen and judged by teachers. It recognises innovation, creativity and excellence in digital book publishing. Launched in 2015, the award aims to reward apps, e-books and other digital interactive products that use sounds, visuals, and interaction in innovative ways to make a child’s experience of the story richer and more meaningful. Applications are now open until 10 January 2023.
Digital books have many advantages, making Reading for Pleasure (RfP) more accessible for many children and their families. As our world and how we consume information becomes increasingly digital, researchers from The Open University’s RfP Community Coalition have set out to answer the question - what makes a good digital book? This animation video highlights the added value of digital reading for children’s literacy and summarises key evidence-based criteria that make a digital book suitable for a child – a great resource to share in your next staff meeting.
Do you know anyone in your school community who might be a fantastic reading volunteer? Bookmark charity needs volunteers to help children to build their reading confidence and develop a love of reading. Volunteers spend one hour a week, split into two 30-minute sessions, supporting a child with reading online. Bookmark volunteering fits around your schedule and can make a huge difference to a child who needs that extra support.
This year, 2,170 teachers, librarians and education staff took part in the Teachers’ Reading Challenge, run in partnership by The Reading Agency and The Open University. This included 1,685 primary and secondary school teachers and student teachers, and 105 teaching and learning support assistants who joined the challenge to expand their knowledge of children’s texts and develop their understanding of RfP pedagogy. If you took part this year, you could win £100 National Book Tokens by letting us know what you learnt. Complete the survey by 5pm 18 November 2022 for a chance to win.
Thank you to so many of you who attended the Book Week Northern Ireland event on 18 October – Reading: A Child’s Superpower. If you missed Teresa Cremin sharing her passion and knowledge on the benefits of reading in childhood, you can watch the replay using the link above. You could also share it with parents in your next newsletter as it offers top tips for encouraging reading at home.
An occasional paper by members of our community, Gabrielle Cliffe Hodges and Mary Ann Wolpert, this piece explores reading approaches across primary and secondary and develops thinking about how readers progress over time via a rich diversity of texts and activities. Do have a read, this will serve to prompt rich PD discussions!
Join us for this online seminar hosted by the OU’s Centre for Literacy and Social Justice (CLSJ) on 23rd November 3-4pm. Dr Anezka Kuzmicova from Prague will present findings from studies which combine quantitative and qualitative inquiry to bring children’s authentic voices and experiences to the fore. Learn how these studies helped to identify four groups of children for whom different facets of story experience combine in similar ways. The findings have implications for both research and practice.
In 2021-22, SPARK! Book Awards, now run in partnership with the Open University, were joined by 90 schools and we would love even greater participation this year. Spark! is an inclusive award open to all schools across the country. This is a great way to get learners engaged in choosing high-quality texts and participating in a national book award. Don’t miss your chance to sign-up with the early bird discount code (OU2022) by 30 November 2022.
We have a stellar mix of top texts for November, recommended by the esteemed librarian and owner of Norfolk Children’s Book Centre, Marilyn Brocklehurst. Marilyn is an avid reader and brilliantly supports our OU RfP conferences.
Vivian French is a much-loved author who has written more than 300 books for children. In 2016, she received an MBE for services to literature, literacy, illustration and the arts. A favourite read of the OU team, a twist on fairy tales, is The Most Wonderful Thing in the World (2015).
The OU Reading Schools Programme: Building a Culture of Reading
This month, the OU’s Reading Schools Programme participants have been engaging with book promos, book blether and book recommendations! The compelling evidence of the impact of strong teacher subject knowledge of texts is helping us take a closer look into research on how to build an effective RfP pedagogy across the entire school. Participants are also starting to create their own bespoke action plans as part of the implementation journey. To find out more about the Reading Schools Programme for 2023-24, click here or contact the team directly for details on how your school or MAT can join us next year.
OU/UKLA Teacher Reading Groups
With 100 Teacher Reading Groups now confirmed for 2022-23, we are at full capacity! Thank you to all who have signed up. Book boxes have almost all arrived and new, autumn term starter boxes should arrive soon. Keep in touch on social media to share local group developments.
We had a great start to our first TRG with 35 people signed up and eager to begin! We discussed our aims and intentions for the TRG and the biggest thing that emerged was the continuous development of our subject knowledge so we can help support every child and develop as a community of support. We enjoyed doing the A-Z of authors and found the letter 'X' particularly difficult! Members also wanted to develop their reader identities and find out more about the children's, too and we began a Padlet to use for collaboration over the year.
Our 22-23 members enjoyed a discussion around Teresa Cremin’s ‘Reading Communities’ article to commence our second session. It was encouraging to see how quickly members have started to think about their individual areas of research having reviewed their practice. Some useful ‘what has worked for us’ tips were shared too and to finish, our book wave focused on graphic novels - preceded by a discussion about childhood favourite comics. Members are now off to work on their development plans.
Featured Examples of Practice
This month, we are featuring two more of the 2022 Farshore RfP winners – The Community Reading Champion, Amanda Hanton, and The School Reading Champion, Lucas Maxwell.
Congratulations to Amanda Hanton from The Virtual School for developing the reading-fuelled partnership developed between Leicestershire County Council and The County Council's Culture Leicestershire. The ‘My Books, My Story’ project saw the development of an exhibition of artwork inspired by books, created and curated by young people in care.
Congratulations, also, to Lucas Maxwell of Glenthorne High School in Sutton for championing the creation of his school’s own Bookling Award. If you’ve ever thought about setting up a book award in your own primary or secondary school, this outstanding example of practice will take you through the process from deciding the longlist to involving staff and selecting the overall winner.
This month’s research feature by Ruth Boyask in the New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies makes an informed argument as to why we need to place reading enjoyment at the centre of literacy education in schools. We know that ‘the will to read influences the skill and vice versa’ (OECD, 2004) and this accessible piece focuses on the benefits of embedding enjoyment into the reading programme. This would make a wonderful read to discuss at your next professional learning event.
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