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P9
Continued from p8
• it has fostered new friendship groups
• increased support for and empathy with the less able readers
• schools have reported an improvement in behaviour
• there has been an overall improvement in reading ages – average two years improvement over a term, and in some cases three to four years
• meeting the needs of targeted underperforming groups of boys within a discreet setting (ie mixed groups).
What schools can do
Schools have the capacity to incorporate Get Boys Reading by making it a priority in their development plan and training teaching and support staff to incorporate the method in their practice.
They need to:
• identify a critical (mixed ability) mass of boys to target;
• where possible, ensure male staff lead Get Boys Reading;
• display images of boys reading in prominent places around the school;
• where there are no male staff members, recruit and train volunteers from the community;
• set up primary–secondary school partnerships, secondary boys being trained to run reading groups in neighbouring primary schools, sixth formers running groups in year 7/8;
• prioritising giving boys regular opportunities to read aloud.
Equipping tomorrow’s men with literacy and a curiosity for knowledge will provide dividends, including improved employability, more social and cultural awareness, the ability to articulate and accommodate differences of opinion – as well as being good role models for the next generation.
Get Boys Reading is mindful of the contribution these more literate husbands, partners and fathers of the future will make to family and society.
Reading for pleasure is a sure gateway to a life of fulfilment, enlightenment, knowledge and, when necessary, escape.
Recommended: Project X series of Books from Oxford University Press.
What do we do?
In essence, we read together for an hour a week – I would prefer an hour a day. It involves years 4 to 9, in groups of six to 12 boys – size depends on group dynamics and availability of texts.
The groups must be mixed ability, with at least two or three confident readers – it is not a remedial programme. Programmes should run for at least ten weeks.
1 Starter activities can include Just a Minute, quiz show, story chain, alphabet games.
2 Texts should be mainly fiction with no more than two sessions devoted to non-fiction; Project X books are good for years 5 and 6.
3 Non-fiction should consist of newspapers, for example First News, and magazines such as The Match and Four Four Two.
4 Fiction texts should be age-appropriate.
5 Initial audit questionnaire on family reading habits: “Who reads the most at home? What papers/magazines are read at home?”
6 Progress and impact measured by using National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) group reading comprehension test.
7 A celebratory event at the end with certificates being presented to all participants in assembly.
8 Older readers are trained to be reading mentors to read
9 Boys move on to writing, creating and publishing their own literature.
David Lewis engages in freelance school- based activity with Get Boys Reading. He has had a varied career in youth work, teaching and educational consultancy. email: davidlewis@getboysreading.org with and to younger boys and girls.