VIEWS From the pen of…Alex Quigley


In our regular series highlighting authors in UK education, we hear this month from ALEX QUIGLEY, author of “Closing the Reading Gap”.


Every teacher recognises the value of reading for students’ learning. If you cannot read well, you are effectively locked out of the school curriculum. For too many students, this lockout begins in their early lives as young children and they go on to fall behind their peers. With the national school lockout as a result of the Coronavirus crisis, students who are weak readers will see their school prospects worsen.


I have written a book about the


‘reading gap’ to try and support busy teachers to better understand the challenge that so many of our students face. It is a gap that starts early. Government evidence suggests that children of all backgrounds who were read to regularly by their parents at age 5 perform better in maths, vocabulary and spelling at age 16, compared to those who were not read to at home. Later on, as of 2019, over a quarter of students go on to fail to meet expectations standards of reading in primary school.


For many teachers, they have received little training to support pupils


who suffer from learning barriers. Not only that, most teachers have received scant training in some of the most rudimentary aspects of teaching, such as how it may be best to read to your class. Sure, we can get by on instinct and teach brilliantly nonetheless, but with some additional reading training and support, every teacher could improve how their students learn by homing in on effective reading.


I spent over a decade as a secondary English teacher, but I knew far


too little about how children learn to read and go on to ‘read to learn’. There are crucial subject specific differences that are helpful to understand, along with strategies that work in every classroom.


In science, students read complex informational texts with a unique


academic language and very specific text structures. By contrast, in history, students read historical sources and they are expected to corroborate and compare the contexts in which the texts were produced and read. These different ways of reading need to be made explicit to students if they are to access the academic curriculum of schools.


We can ‘close the reading gap’ by targeting how we develop reading


in every classroom. To get through the school curriculum, we can often simplify reading to lots of short text gobbets that fit on a PowerPoint slide. SATs prep and GCSE revision can lead us to focus on quick reading, but students can fail to develop the necessary reading stamina and skill to access the more complex reading needed to crack the school curriculum and flourish beyond the school gates.


Of course, the reading gap can grow wide due to what does, or


doesn’t happen, in the home. However, we can better support every student with a strong reading culture in school, alongside targeting reading for pleasure and purpose outside of the school gates too. Our students school success depends on it.


Every teacher needs to be supported to shut the door on the reading gap.


Closing the Reading Gap, by Alex Quigley, will be published by Routledge at £15.00 this May, available from Routledge at http://bit.ly/2wRRD3T and in all good bookshops.


Juniper Education Keeping pupils


safe in cyberspace In this month’s column, GRAHAM COOPER, Product Strategy Director, Juniper Education, describes how schools can promote online safety while children are learning at home.


Online safety has always been a priority for schools. But at a time when many pupils are spending some or all of their time out of the classroom, it can be harder to make sure children are staying safe online. With more time on their hands than usual, children may be tempted


to stray into the riskier areas of cyberspace. It only takes a few taps of a screen and a primary school child could be watching inappropriate YouTube videos or taking part in an unmoderated chatroom. Similarly, a child can come across dangerous content by mistake. A


visit to a seemingly innocent online game can be a route into something more sinister such as a self-harming site or pro-anorexia forum. Some children might be drawn to engage in cyber-bullying in the


knowledge that they won’t have to account for their behaviour at school. My colleague Kathryn Day, who is a former primary school deputy


head and CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) Ambassador, has some advice on how schools can continue to drive the online safety message home.


• Engage with parents Schools can reinforce the importance of online safety, even from a distance. Many parents are consulting schools’ social media feeds at the moment, so reach out and offer advice and support through the channels parents use every day. Make parents aware of organisations which promote online safety.


Internet Matters has some good, practical advice for parents on areas such as cyberbullying, and setting up parental controls on gadgets, apps and devices. Another useful link to include on your school website is CEOP, an


organisation which protects children and young people from sexual abuse and online grooming. Parents can consult CEOP for advice and support. • Guide your pupils While pupils are away from the usual school routines, try sending out links to interactive games, quizzes and family friendly activities which educate pupils about online safety. The charity, SWGfl, has some brilliant resources to help. Some schools also run lessons for children and their parents to take


part in together online which is a great way to kick off conversations about how to stay safe. For a child who is being bullied online but doesn’t feel they can


confide in anyone, Childline provides confidential advice. Schools can make a big difference by raising pupils’ awareness of this support. • Keep it positive In difficult times it’s more important than ever to focus on the positives, and schools can do much to encourage children to make good use of their screen time. If your pupils love spending time on their games console, you could


point them in the direction of games that encourage collaboration and communication as well as fun, such as Minecraft. One school filmed its teachers, caretakers and admin staff reading


extracts from books in different rooms around the school, and shared the videos with pupils. This helped to remind younger pupils that people at school are still thinking of them. Even though the school routine has been disrupted, schools can play


a part in making children’s online interactions safe, creative and enjoyable.


uFor more information about encouraging pupils to use the internet responsibly, visit: https://junipereducation.org/spotting-fake-news-teaching-children- to-think-critically-about-online-sources/


May 2020 www.education-today.co.uk 13


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