Heather Wright (Reading Rocks): How to make reading in your school ROCK!

In this episode, Claire meets with Heather Wright, a former teacher and founder of Reading Rocks, a project designed to develop the love of reading in children.    Heather talks about her teaching career and the opportunities she’s had, with the support of her school, to promote the love of reading. She explains the different strategies she has established within her school to assist parents and children develop this. Heather shares some advice on how teachers, schools and parents can develop the love of reading as well as explaining the importance of reading. She outlines the CPD training Reading Rocks offers and explains how reading should be approached in schools and in the classroom.  Heather and Claire explore the importance of reading and why it is the foundation for every child’s educational journey. They discuss some of the challenges schools and teachers may face with developing the love of reading as well as advice on how to overcome these.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  Heather has been at the same school for 15 years and enjoys her role due to the district it belongs to and the challenges it faces.  She began her teaching career in Year 1 and moved on to teaching Key Stage 2. She was also the IT co-ordinator. After her maternity leave, Heather choose to work part-time and due to this she lost her TLR role.  As a part-time class teacher Heather’s headteacher saw the potential and creativity she had. With the support of her colleagues, they began reading research as they knew the impact reading for pleasure had on children’s future.   The ‘Year of Reading’ project started in 2014/15 as a whole school project to promote the love of reading within children. Children were exposed to various texts and reading materials to support them with their reading journey and ability.   One of the first campaigns within the project was ‘The Big Bedtime Read’ which is now well established and happens every year at her school.   When the idea was introduced to parents at the school, Heather anticipated around 30 parents, but to her surprise around 400 people gathered in the school field around the campfire, some in their pyjamas with a teddy and a book just simply reading.   Despite working at a school with a high percentage of Pupil Premium (PP) children and low parental involvement, Heather and her team were able to create an environment where reading was promoted and celebrated for parents and children.    Heather and her team contacted the local rabbit rescue centre and welcomed ‘Bug Bunnies’. Children in Key Stage 1 then read to the rabbits.   Throughout that academic year, Heather used social media as a platform to promote the work she was doing in her school. She also used this medium to contact and interact with authors and illustrators.  Heather held her first reading conference with an audience of 150 people. She held another conference due to high demand and this allowed the opportunity for schools and teachers to share their hard work.   These two conferences ran through the school’s administration but now the conferences are delivered by Reading Rocks and take place across the country.   To support children with reading and help them develop the love of reading, Heather suggests that we should read to children and find our own passion for reading and share that with the children. Young children’s interest should be linked to the text that they are reading or is being read to them. She suggests that girls and boys should not be classed as two separate groups. What is done for the girls should be done for the boys.   Books should be for all and everyone should be included.   She tried to incorporate STEM to develop the love of reading.   Heather suggests that we should reduce the pressure of reading i.e. not saying “we are sitting down to read rather” normalising and making it feel natural.    Children need to build a familiarity with the books they read.   Heather believes that the ‘love of reading’ cannot be taught, but the love of reading can be nurtured by modelling and preserving with it.   Reading corners – they must be used. Children should be given the opportunity to use them. They key is to having good books. The books must be valuable for them to have an impact.   The teacher’s attitude and approach towards reading can influence a child’s approach towards reading. It should be portrayed in a positive light, reading sessions and reading corners should be positively promoted in order for children to develop the love of reading.   Picture books for STEM links – Rosie Revere, Izzy Gizmo.   Support for classes with a lower reading ability can have books read to them but children need to develop their own fluency, stamina and involvement of reading. If the book has been read to them, they could then re-read it to develop fluency.   Most important reading skill: the skill of decoding. Solid decoding skills are essential to get to the rich fruit of comprehension. It is paramount that the enjoyment and engagement of reading runs alongside the skill of decoding.   Heather recommends that there should be an established time each day so there is a rhythm and routine where children know what is expected.   Non-fiction Friday – throughout the week children read fiction books at a designated time but on a Friday, everyone reads a non-fiction text.   Heather states that children should be given the time to read, it should be valued, it should take place every day at the same time so children can expect it and look forward to it.    Children must have the tools for this i.e. making sure they have the stamina, fluency and decoding skills.   Heather understands the budget restraints schools face.  Heather suggests having two designated reading times where the teacher is reading aloud to the children. They can take place in the morning and afternoon but she emphasis that they must take place every day during school hours.   Children should be encouraged to choose their own reading book but school staff (teachers or support staff) should guide them.   Whole class VS small group guided reading sessions – Heather suggest there is no right or wrong, it’s about what works best for you. Personally, Heather likes whole class guided reading for Key Stage 2. She believes teachers can effectively challenge the children by sharing a good quality text.   Tips for reading for pleasure at home – build the want and desire within the children. Parental engagement – bring the school community together and ensure they value it by using the resources that are available to them, for example a public library.   Reading Rocks Conference – 2 types of CPD events and it includes 3/4 keynote speakers, authors, education speakers and 2 workshops slots.   3 biggest changes in education – paperwork, pressure from OFSTED, teachers communicating via social media.   Education in the next 10 years – revolution where teachers are and the profession is valued. The art and craft of teaching should be valued. Trusting practitioners who know what they are doing.   BEST MOMENTS  “If you cut them, they are like a stick of rock and the district runs right through them.”  “It was the best year of my teaching career. I think it always will be.”  “The overarching aim of the project was to drench the children in all things reading.”  “We had about 400 people in the field.”  “Don’t treat them as two separate groups.”  “If we polarise them, by saying those books are for the boys and those books are for the girls we are doing them a disservice.”  “You need to relate back to your own experience of reading.”  “Reading is the key to everything in the curriculum.”  “If children cannot read then they can’t access Science, Geography or other areas of the curriculum.”  “You have to know your books, but you also have to know your children.”  “They experience that endorphin; they experience that lovely bit of reading.”  “Learning is not linear.”  “It will click at different times with different children when they can access longer books.”  “Reading is the film inside your head that’s why it is better than telly.”  “There’s a special relationship between you and the author. Your version of that book is different to somebody else’s version of that.”  “There is nothing wrong with over reading and using picture books.”   “The sooner you can allow children to be choosing their own content the better quality reading you will get.”  “Wherever it is, make it sacrosanct.”  “We need to talk to them about what it feels like when a book is right for you.”  “The list never ends. It is absolutely okay to drop one of those spinning plates.”   “Prioritise your health and wellbeing.”  “I would like to see the fear go.”  VALUABLE RESOURCES  The Teachers’ Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheTeachersPodcast/ Classroom Secrets Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClassroomSecretsLimited/ Classroom Secrets website: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/ LIFE/work balance campaign: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/lifeworkbalance-and-wellbeing-in-education-campaign-2019/ Reading Rocks:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/heather-wright-reading-rocks-10957775228 Love Reading for Kids:  https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/ Reading Rocks Conference:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/heather-wright-reading-rocks-10957775228 Building an outstanding reading school:  https://cdn.oxfordowl.co.uk/2017/04/21/10/51/51/265/bp_osi_buildingoutstanding.pdf  ABOUT THE HOST Claire Riley  Claire, alongside her husband Ed, is one of the directors of Classroom Secrets, a company she founded in 2013 and which provides outstanding differentiated resources for teachers, schools, parents and tutors worldwide.  Having worked for a number of years as a teacher in both Primary and Secondary education, and experiencing first-hand the difficulties teachers were facing finding appropriate high-quality resources for their lessons, Claire created Classroom Secrets with the aim of helping reduce the workload for all school staff.  Claire is a passionate believer in a LIFE/work balance for those who work in education citing the high percentage of teachers who leave or plan to leave their jobs each year. Since February 2019, Classroom Secrets has been running their LIFE/work balance campaign to highlight this concerning trend.  The Teachers’ Podcast is a series of interviews where Claire meets with a wide range of guests involved in the field of education. These podcasts provide exciting discussions and different perspectives and thoughts on a variety of themes which are both engaging and informative for anyone involved in education. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.