‘Snuggle and Read’ Project WDPS- Reading for Pleasure

At West Denton Primary School, we believe that reading should be a fundamental part of childhood and a skill which should be developed to support lifelong learning.

Our aim is to develop and embed a strong, sustainable reading culture within the school community.  Confident and competent readers will foster a love of reading through a rich and varied experience of texts, empowering them to exercise freedoms of choice and independence. (WDPS Core Values)

Inspiring children to read is their fundamental right.  It sets a solid foundation for all learning and secures a positive trajectory for personal development and a greater understanding of the world in which they live.

The Snuggle and Read project aims to support parents/carers to understand the importance of spending time with their children reading, We aim to promote and demonstrate the value of Reading across the school and raise families aspirations. We will use teacher expertise and commitment to upskill parents to increase their confidence when reading with their children and support continued positive engagement with school.

Young children enjoy being read to due to the positive effects of enjoying texts with an adult, where eye contact and expression; creating an inspiring experience, is the key.  The project aims to help children with the transition from enjoying being read to, to becoming confident engaged, independent readers who choose to read. We aim to encourage reading to be a fulfilling and enjoyable lifelong choice for children to make.

‘Becoming a fluent, skilled and attentive reader starts at the earliest stages, before children encounter a book for the first time, partly driven by the quality of their parents/carers talk with them that expands their vocabulary’ (OFSTED Reading Framework July 2021)

David K. Dickinson et al (2012) reported regarding parental engagement in reading.

‘ when the distribution of books is accompanied by guidance in how to read those books, there is enormous potential to enhance reading and self-regulatory competencies. There is evidence that simply providing books has value, especially in settings where very few books are otherwise available, but evidence is much stronger that the combination of books and guidance for reading has great potential to result in and lead to more frequent and more effective reading and improvements in children’s language and self-regulatory competencies.’

Project Aims:

• From March 2023 we will start to promote the ‘Snuggle and Read’ project and share the aims with parents/carers, staff and the wider community through workshops. We will run a competition to design a school Reading Mascot and have the mascot made into a soft toy for each classroom in KS1 - to be used as a ‘Snuggle and Read’ partner.

We will start the project with the Year 1 class, ready to be rolled out to the rest of the school.

All children will be encouraged to have their own ‘Snuggle and Read’ cuddly toy at home too.

• We will use a variety of high-quality books for children and parents to access throughout the year.  Parents and carers will be given support through workshops and other online resources for how to share the book with their children in a meaningful and proactive manner. This will promote parental engagement and an increased confidence and enjoyment when sharing books with their children when they ‘snuggle and read’ in a relaxed and happy environment.
• We will send out motivational text messages as reminders for parents/carers to read  in an engaging manner with their children.
• We will create class reading areas with core texts and reading mascots.   Children can get a reading mascot ready to ‘snuggle and read’, pick a book and then share/read their book aloud to the mascot. Thus increasing confidence and pleasure for reading and promoting transition to becoming keen independent readers.
• We will promote parents/carers to become Reading Champions who feel confident reading with their children and may want to offer their skills to come and read with children in school.
• Visits to the school library will be organised and encouraged for opportunities to engage with books and staff.

Reading During Lockdown 3

As the school has been closed since January other than to key worker or vulnerable children, we have found other ways to enjoy sharing stories together.