What reading looks like at St Cuthbert's 

At The Federation of St Cuthbert’s and St Mary’s we strive to foster a love of reading at school and at home.

We believe that speaking, listening, reading and writing are fundamental life skills, which enable children to communicate effectively in all areas and equips them for the challenges they will face in the wider world.

Reading is an entitlement that should enable children to connect with some of the finest words ever written. It should open up a world of possibility and intrigue. A centralised aspect of our Book-Led Curriculum across the school is to ensure reading influences the thoughts, feelings and emotions of our learners.

At school we will teach and support children to develop a love of reading through class reads and story time, alongside the systematic teaching strategies of daily phonics lesson, and Whole Class and Guided Reading sessions where strategies for reading are explicitly taught.

Reading daily at home provides your child with an opportunity to practice the skills they have been learning in school to further develop and cement them into their reading practice and understanding.

The importance of reading for children cannot be underestimated. When children read for pleasure it can benefit a child’s education, social and cognitive development, their wellbeing, and their mental health! 

There are multiple other benefits that reading can have on a child’s development, including:

Assisted cognitive development: Cognitive development refers to how we perceive and think about our world in reference to our intelligence, reasoning, language development, and information processing. By reading to children, you provide them with a deep understanding about their world and fill their brains with background knowledge. They then use this acquired background knowledge to make sense of what they see, hear, and read, which aids their cognitive development.

Developing empathy: When we read a book, we put ourselves in the story in front of us. This allows us to develop empathy as we experience the lives of other characters and can identify with how they are feeling. Children can then use this understanding to empathise in the real world with other people. Additionally, children will gain a greater understanding of emotions, which can help them understand their own emotions and those of others. This helps dramatically with their social development.

Gaining deeper understanding: A book can take us anywhere: to another city, to a different country, or even to an alternative world. By reading a book, a child learns about people, places, and events that they couldn’t learn otherwise. This gives children a deeper understanding of the world around them and cultures that are different from their own.

Listening to children read and providing them with exciting opportunities to explore the world of books is an essential part to their development and that is why we, at St. Cuthbert's, want to highlight the importance of reading and support children develop their love of reading both at home and in school.