Based in my second school placement, this paper discusses the benefits of group reading in the classroom as a separate lesson activity elaborated as a whole-school program before the start of the day.
The programme was defined due to a low reading age upon arrival in secondary school in Year 7, thereby preventing a substantial amount of students to access the curriculum content, in all subjects.
The methods used have been collecting qualitative data to obtain an idea of the programme through unstructured interviews with key members of staff, describing background and current setup of the lesson. Some informative quantitative data demonstrates improvements in reading assessments. An anonymous students’ questionnaire was used to capture the perception of the intervention by Year 7 students.
Generally we have found positive and effective results from the findings, both from the students’ point of view and from the staff. Nevertheless, the structure is currently being reviewed to make more use of resources.
In conclusion we propose for the school to develop the accessibility of books in the school by increasing the cultural importance and impact of reading, and by extending the library’s physical presence within the school, thereby, establishing an explicitly purposeful, vibrant and dynamic library.
By Marina Mitchell-Heggs
Modern Foreign Languages PGCE Trainee Teacher