At Coleham, every class enjoys a daily story read aloud by their teacher. This special time is about much more than simply listening to a book – it helps nurture a lifelong love of reading. Research shows that children who read for pleasure are more likely to develop strong vocabulary, comprehension and communication skills, as well as increased confidence and empathy. By sharing high-quality stories together, children are introduced to new authors, ideas and experiences, while also seeing reading modelled as something enjoyable and worthwhile. Most importantly, daily story time allows children to relax, imagine, laugh and become immersed in the magic of books – helping them to see themselves as readers for life.
This week I had the pleasure of talking to representatives from each year group to find out a bot more about the selected texts they are reading. Watch out, there may be some spoilers!
- Year 6 – Holes by Louis Sachar
“I like the drama within the text and how easy it is to follow” – Florence
“Stanley is currently running away with Zero, I’m not sure but this sounds dangerous!” – Emiliia
- Year 5 – Relic Hamilton by Joseph Coelho
“I like that it’s adventurous – it’s like a mystery that you have to figure out with each turn of the page” – Aurora
“The main character turns out to be a lamp guardian. I like that it goes from an ordinary boys life to a completely irregular one” – Finlay
- Year 4 – The Twits by Roald Dahl
“I really like how they play tricks on each other” – Dolly
“My favourite bit is when the boys get stuck in the tree, that kind of made me laugh” – Ollie
- Year 3 – The Ancient Egyptian Sleepover by Stephen Davies
“It’s really good, I was excited to find out what was going to happen next” Elvie
“It’s really entertaining, especially when the Rosetta Stone gets stolen” – Alfie
- Year 2 – George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl
“We are on the bit when George starts making the medicine. I’m a bit excited” – Bobby
“Well, we’ve just started and George has started making the medicine, I’m excited to see what the medicine is going to do” – Phoebe
- Year 1 – Rainforests by Lucy
“I like how the book describes the animals and I enjoy learning about what animals look like, and what animals eat” – Rory
“I just love learning about Rainforests” – Kira
- Reception – Clean Up by Nathan Bryon
“I like how they are trying to make the work a better place” – Arbor
“The grandma and the grandpa tidy all the rubbish from the sea so the animals can go back” – CeCe