At Birley Primary Academy, reading is at the heart of everything we do. In addition to the regular reading lesson in which children practise fluency and develop the skills of reading, we strive to incorporate reading into our wider curriculum offer. At the academy, our teachers share a story with their class at least once a day and the children are expected to practise reading at home, daily, with an adult. In addition to the inviting reading areas found in each classroom, Birley Primary Academy also has its own library allowing children to access a wide selection of books. However, as an academy, we have recognised that sometimes as a reader we need support, encouragement and guidance to direct us to books to choose; books that will interest and motivate a love towards reading. Please find below a list of strategies utilised at Birley Primary Academy to help develop a love of reading.
At Birley Primary Academy, we have subject ambassadors who support subject leaders with their role. Isaac is our Reading Subject Ambassador and he supports Mrs Taylor with a range of different jobs, including:
Across the academy, each classroom has their own reading area. They are inviting, comfy areas with a huge range of different books, including recommended reads from adults in the room. Our children love picking up a story from the shelf and having time to simply read for pleasure in the classroom.
Here at Birley, our Christmas came early as we were lucky to receive a generous donation of a diverse range of high quality texts all thanks to The Bookmark Charity and their ‘Your Story Corner’ project. The books have really brightened up our shared reading spaces and the children have enjoyed having access to a range of books. We have also enjoyed sharing them as a whole class during our story time and the conversations that follow.
The children at Birley are able to visit the newly refurbished, well stocked library. These books are categorised into different sections of both fiction and non-fiction books. The children can enjoy reading these books both in the library during break and lunch times and at home if they wish to take a book home to read for pleasure.
Every year, we celebrate World Book Day as an academy. Last year, as part of the celebrations, the children took part in a ‘Book in a Jar’ competition. The children created a jar that represented a book of their choice at home and then brought it into the academy to share on World Book Day. We also welcomed children and staff to dress up as their favourite characters and our parents and carers were invited into the academy so that they could share a book with their child.
Each year, we get a visit from the Scholastic Book Fair. When it arrives, children are able browse over 200 books from award-winners and new releases to beloved favourites and bestsellers – all at amazing prices. Plus, for every book bought, parents help to earn free books for our school.
Poetry is used all around the world as an important way to express how people are feeling and it is a great way of storytelling.
Here at Birley we celebrated National Poetry Day 2024 on 3rd October and it was a day where we highlighted the impact poetry has on people’s lives.
Each year has a different theme, and this year’s theme was ‘counting’.
Along with sharing and creating poems in our classes, Gareth Baker, our Patron of Reading delivered a special poetry assembly to the children where he shared his favourite poem. He also worked with children throughout the academy undertaking poetry workshops.
School Council were invited to the Lord Mayor’s Chamber as part of her ‘Big Read’. She shared her favourite story with the children ‘The Day The Crayons Quit’ and then allowed the children to choose a book of their own to keep and enjoy. The children enjoyed chatting to the Mayor over a treat of cake and juice and they also all enjoyed listening to the Lord Mayor talk about her role and why reading is so important.
At Birley Primary Academy, we have our very own Patron of Reading called Gareth Baker. Our Patron of Reading is a children’s author who the academy have formed a personal attachment with through projects completed together in the past. The idea of having a Patron of Reading is to bring another exciting dimension to the academy’s quest to create a buzz about books and reading. Everything that Gareth does is related to helping encourage and develop a reading for pleasure in the school and these may include quizzes, book recommendations, discussions, drama, book trailers and poetry bashes. The possibilities are virtually endless.
Children throughout Key Stage 2 earn points by reading for pleasure. The more books they read, the more points they earn. The books are labelled with bronze, silver and gold stickers.
The more difficult/challenging the book, the more points they are worth. Children will work towards achieving their bronze, silver and gold awards during the school year. 100 points to get a bronze award, 200 points = silver award, 300 points = gold award.
Can KS2 children complete the challenge of reading 12 of these 20 classic books (some older and some more modern) before they are 12 years old?
In KS1, if children read at home 5 times, they receive a book token which goes into a draw to win a new book to keep. Further to this, every week, a child in KS1 has the opportunity to win the reading basket to take home and share with their grown-ups. Each basket has a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books along with a reading buddy and a drawing pad to illustrate their favourite part of a book.
Finally, the academy hold parent workshops throughout the year and these include workshops about the teaching of Phonics and Reading throughout school. Information from these sessions can be found on our Parent Workshop page.
Roald Dah Day celebrates and commemorates the wonderful work of Roald Dahl, his writing, characters and stories.
On Friday 13th September children at Birley Primary Academy celebrated the fantastic work of one of the greatest children’s authors of all time
Did you know…
This special day is all about reading books and discovering new stories and at Birley we did just that!
What is National Read a Book Day?
National Read a Book Day is celebrated every year on September 6th. It’s a day dedicated to enjoying the wonderful world of books. On this day, people all around the country take time to read their favourite books, explore new stories, and share the joy of reading with others.
The History of National Read a Book Day
National Read a Book Day was created to encourage everyone, especially children like you, to read more books. Reading helps us learn new things, use our imagination, and go on exciting adventures without even leaving our homes. While the exact origins of this day are a bit of a mystery, it has become a favourite time for book lovers everywhere to celebrate their passion for reading.
National Storytelling Week
The theme for National Storytelling Week 2025 was ‘Reimagine your World’. Whether it was something unexpected on the way to school, odd sounds you hear at night, or a path you’ve never followed, the world around us is full of secret lives, places and possibilities. The most extraordinary story can come from the most ordinary place: it just needs someone to find it.
Our Patron of Reading joined us here at the academy, where he entertained us with a tall tale. After that, the children created their own tall tales to share with their classes.
In a special assembly, Mrs Saunders shared a story. The children all enjoyed the tale of a dinosaur who pooped a superhero!
She also launched something very special – our very own magical reading vending machine!
The children were asked to create a design for the machine based on the slogan ‘Something Very Magical Can Happen When You Read A Good Book’ and the winning design will be printed onto the machine.
Any child reading at home, on 4 or more occasions, will be given a reading ticket each week and then at the end of each half term, tickets will be drawn by Mrs McAughey. The winning tickets for each phase through school will exchange their ticket for a token to spend in the Magical Vending Machine and choose a book of their own to take home and enjoy.
Please continue to record reading at home in Home School Diaries and bring into school each day. Reading at home can be anything your child enjoys (including sharing a picture book) alongside their school book: books, magazines, newspapers etc.
