Last Friday, our Junior students were entertained by manuhiri guest speaker Alan Dingley, Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador.

Alan was here to promote and encourage reading; as a foundation for strong literacy skills and as a way to relax and for entertainment.

He spoke in a very interactive way about how reading became a huge part of his life as a child, and his connection with his Koru, as they read together in separate armchairs on the outside porch during the school holidays. Those books lit a spark inside him – that within them he found story and information that provoked curiosity. Particularly, he found that it focused his mind and stopped it racing.

He spoke about his ADHD and likened his brain to a computer with many open tabs and his thoughts flitted from one thing to the next all the time. Reading shut all the other tabs down.

He asked the students who saw reading being done at home – this is such a key element for our rangatahi – as parents and caregivers, we are role modelling to them everything that we do. Reading leads to the ability to navigate through life, from understanding exam questions, learning and expanding knowledge, passing your driver’s license, to pulling, not pushing the door to open it. It was great to see so many ākonga put their hands up when he asked this. When he asked them to tell him their favourite book the hands went up thick and fast, some titles everyone recognised and applause broke out.

His other advice was to always judge a book by its cover. This is very true nowadays, as publishers and authors consider very carefully what it is they want to convey to potential readers about the content.

Alan came and hung out in Te Puna Mātauranga building afterwards and students were very comfortable to come up and chat with him about their reading interests and the book that had started them on their reading journey.

The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

– Dr Seuss