Raising Readers

Reading at Home | 

Our literacy focus this year is reading. While many of us read on different platforms and enjoy the different formats that reading is presented to us in, it’s important that we share our reading journeys with our learners at home too. 

This fortnight’s focus is reading at home. 

Every so often, in our every-increasingly busy lives, reading takes a backseat to all our priorities; however, reading is critical and is something we need to consistently embed into our day-to-day in order to be able to enjoy its many benefits.

To support our students in their reading journeys, every student in Year 7 and Year 8 will receive a book, alongside a book wallet over the next week. This is very exciting, as it is our learners’ own books, as a gift from Lalor Secondary College, to help them build their own libraries. 

This book wallet must also be brought to every English lesson, which will start off with 15 minutes of independent reading. Learners are also encouraged to borrow books from the school library, or their local library, to develop their own reading skills and also support their own learning.

As a community, the way that we can support our learners’ reading journeys is to ensure that they are reading at least 30 minutes each night, at home. In particular, I recommend our learners to read each night, prior to going to sleep, as reading promotes deep relaxation, whilst simultaneously allowing critical skills to develop.

Our goal is to raise readers for life. I’m really curious about your learner’s reading journey. If you have any suggestions, questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would love to know what you’re reading at home!

Keep Reading,

Ms Ecehan 

PS: This fortnight I am reading - “Norwegian Wood” (1987) by Haruki Murakami. This book was generously gifted to me (thank-you so much!) by our very own Ms. Moore, who is also an avid reader. The book itself is centred around the protagonist Toru, who hears the infamous Beatles song ‘Norwegian Wood (this Bird has Flown).’ Upon hearing the song, Toru is transported to when he was a student in 1960s Japan, where he reminisces adolescent love and loss. An exciting read.