At Lansdown Park Academy, we understand that helping a child to fall in love with reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. Reading is not only a skill that is imperative for successful classroom-based learning and, therefore, school achievement, it is a gateway to something even more aspirational: belonging.

When we read books, we learn about the world around us - whether that be the concrete jungle of the city in which we live or the colourful, exotic jungles filled with captivating creatures and sweltering climates we are unlikely ever to encounter in real life. Authors paint pictures in our minds so that we can imagine the sights, sounds and tastes that are otherwise unfathomable to us. But we do not only learn about the outside: we also learn about ourselves. As narratives reveal the internal thoughts and feelings of characters, when we read their stories, we learn to untangle our own thoughts, feelings, fears. We learn to interpret what our actions mean and how they might be perceived by others. We learn how people aren't entirely good or entirely bad but, in fact, we have all done things that make us proud and things which we wish we hadn't. We learn how people almost never exist in isolation but instead live their lives based on their relationships with others, how they form these relationships, how they navigate conflicts - friendship, love, loss. We learn that life is complicated and painful and magical. 

Without being able to read, a child's understanding about who they are, where they belong and how to navigate the trials and tribulations of life can come only from their direct, personal experiences. For many of our pupils, this would be significantly limiting. Once we teach them to read fluently, we can show them the joy to be found in books. With every book they read, the wider their horizon becomes. 

Remember, all LPA pupils can access BugClub at home to read eBooks and practise their phonics.

Follow this website for some top tips on how to read with your child at home :) 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zbxby9q

Our top tip is to encourage the use of audiobooks. Listening to a story as they fall asleep helps children ease away from screen time and hear vocabulary they wouldn't be able to read independently or find in movies and TV. 

Through Spotify, you can access many classic tales for free... 

• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Fredrick Douglass
• The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Similarly, Youtube has many audiobooks. Our top 5 are below...

1. Alex Rider - Secret Weapon by Anthony Horowitz

2. The Witches by Roald Dahl

3. Billionaire Boy - David Walliams 

4. The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson (for younger readers)  

5. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein (for more advanced readers)