Final report on reading for the year.

Students are about to be “school-free” for almost two months. This means the reading that occurs both directly and indirectly to fulfill their subject obligations falls away and, for some, there could well be no reading occur in the next 7 weeks aside from scrolling websites and social media. This is a dangerous time where students reading ability doesn’t just stall but can actually slide backwards.

Firstly, understand that reading ability is an enormous determining factor on all sorts of domains for students. In particular, ability in accessing the curriculum and academic achievement are closely linked to reading ability. Research shows that better reading ability equates to better academic results (Nyarko et al., 2018). Likewise, there is also a strong relationship between the time students spend reading for pleasure and their academic achievement across subjects (Whitten, Labby & Sullivan, 2016). This research is interesting in that it shows those whom do more reading in their own time achieve better not just in literacy rich subjects, such as History and English, but also in areas one may be a little surprised. See the results below for how regular readers do better in both Science and Mathematics. 

Therefore, we have established that reading in one’s own time can seriously assist a student’s academic achievement. Note also that there is a wide misconception in young readers that they are “born” with a certain reading ability and that is that…this is not true and is a very detrimental perception. As I have told the students several times, reading ability is a skill and can be improved and refined through advice, strategies and practice. It is no different to practicing the perfect cover drive, corner kick, guitar solo or monologue on stage. Please, if you ever hear these sentiments of a student not being a “good reader” set them straight and ensure them they can improve their reading with practice.

Back to the upcoming holidays. Due to the understanding given above that amount of time spent reading corresponds directly to how well students do academically, it makes sense for students to read as much as possible in the holidays, or at any time. However, if students do not read over an extended period, they can experience backslide in their reading ability, which has serious knock-on effects for their academic ability. This phenomenon is well known and documented overseas, particularly in the northern hemisphere where students often have up to three months break from school in summer, but increasingly it is becoming a concern here as well. Here is an excerpt on what is known as Summer Slide from the National Library website;

“Weeks, if not a term or more, are spent helping students catch up to their reading levels from the previous year. In one New Zealand study, some students in a South Auckland decile 1 school lost 5.8 months reading progress over the summer holidays (McNaughton et al, 2012). The consequences are cumulative and long-lasting, often having a powerful influence on reading scores throughout secondary school and beyond. A Baltimore study showed 65% of the reading achievement gap between 9th graders of low and high socio-economic standing could be traced to what they learned — or failed to learn — over their childhood summers (Kim & Quinn, 2013).”

So, reading over the summer break is critical to not only continue improving reading ability, but even to merely maintain it. Many strong readers will be doing this automatically. But some of the more at-risk students, whom have had significant assistance over the school year and have recently been given critical skills and strategies to employ, stand to lose really big if these skills are not maintained. It is absolutely a situation of use it or lose it.

A recent survey conducted with junior students on reading at St Bede’s showed some promising trends. When compared to Term 2 more students are reporting they are getting books out and are, on average, reading for pleasure slightly more per week (figure 13). This is a trend we seek to continue. However, not so encouraging is the time students are still reporting they spend on a device or watching TV (figure 14). Two-thirds of juniors reported reading either not at all or just 30mins per week, yet these same students spend upwards of 10 hours on devices during a week. Also, when asked what was getting in the way of them reading more for pleasure the top student responses were that they would rather be on a device, they feel they cannot locate an engaging story, and that they feel they do not have time (Figure 15). There are some very clear statements to make about this data. Obviously, students could free up time for reading by using their devices a fraction less. Also, the argument of time getting in the way becomes moot over a long summer break. This might mean that parents need to consider device-free moments in the home to facilitate reading. Lastly, if they feel they have not found the ideal book or genre they need to get in and speak to our wonderful librarian Chrissie. Chrissie is deeply knowledgeable of young adult fiction and high-interest non-fiction, she has added over 400 new books to the catalogue this year and is very passionate about matching students with good reads!

Finally, to assist in getting students reading over the summer holiday we are running two competitions. One is a holiday reading challenge that all students were emailed two weeks ago. Students are asked to complete the various reading challenges and submit the completed form to the Library of St Bede on return in 2021 to be in the draw for $50 Westfield vouchers. The other competition is a call for book/reading inspired art. Entries must be A3 size and those judged the best will be displayed in the Library and will also attract some rich rewards. 

If you had any comment or questions about anything covered here please do not hesitate to get in touch with me at cwilson@stbedes.school.nz. Have a fantastic holiday and get some good reading in!

Callum Wilson