ACE World Book Day 2022
“In 2022, we are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of World Book Day – with the message for all children 'you are a reader'!”
World Book Day 2022
As Deputy Headteacher, Subject Lead for English here at Astley and Primary English Lead across the Synergy Trust, we put Mr Seager under the ACE Spotlight! to find out more about reading for pupils here at Astley and the exciting plans for ACE World Book Day on Monday 28th March, 2022.
Mr Seager, tell us when you first began working here at Astley Primary, what inspired you to become a teacher and what specialist english skills amd experience you bring to your roles here at Astley and across the Trust?
Teaching has always been in my family – both my sister and my mum worked in schools. Years ago I was doing some work experience in a school and watched the excitement and wonder on children’s faces as a magnet moved some iron fillings across a page – and at that moment I knew teaching was for me!
I have always loved English – reading lots of books and writing, including my own poems. I feel passionate about the excitement and emotion that can come out of English – through a good story, an emotive poem or an expressive piece of drama – and transferring that love to the children at Astley and across the Trust is my ultimate aim. I led English at my previous school in Ipswich for 6 years, so feel I have plenty of experience to bring to the role.
How does being Primary English Lead across the Synergy Trust impact your role as English Lead here at Astley?
As part of my role working for Synergy, I get to visit all of the other fantastic schools within the trust to help develop English for all children. A number of ideas I suggest come from successes we have had here at Astley. Using Astley as a real hub of English expertise can only benefit our school, positioning Astley at the centre of everything the Trust does in relation to English. In addition, the role allows me to pick up lots of good ideas from other schools in the Trust, some of which we have already implemented.
Did you have a love of reading as a child and do you remember your favourite book? What books do you most enjoy reading now?
Absolutely – I could always be found with my head in a book! I used to read all sorts of things – I loved the adventures of ‘The Famous Five’ by Enid Blyton and of course the classic Roald Dahl stories. One of my all-time favourites though, was Enid Blyton's - ‘The Magic Faraway Tree,' about the adventures of children as they found magical worlds at the top of a tree.
Now, I love to read historical fiction, by authors such as Ken Follett – epic tales set in medieval Britain. I am also a fan of James Bond and enjoy reading the original Ian Flemming stories. Most of my reading these days comes in the form of children’s story-books with my two young daughters every evening!
Tell us about the importance of reading in relation to the ACE English Curriculum and how these reading skills are encouraged and developed through the Astley year groups?
Reading is at the core of all that we do within English here at Astley. As soon as the children join the school they are taught to read through our Read Write Inc (RWI) phonics programme, which helps the children to build their knowledge of initial sounds into blended words and then sentence reading.
As the children move up the school and learn to read, we have a daily session called ‘Big Read’ where the children begin to use background knowledge to deepen their understanding when reading. Using clues, they ask and answer questions in relation to texts and this prepares them well for Year 6 SATs tests and their future High School eduation.
We have core books chosen by our teachers which act as ‘inspirational hooks’ for writing within English lessons – ensuring the children have access to a wide range of books by the time they leave the school. At Astley, we love to celebrate reading with our recently modernised and updated books. One way is with the weekly ‘ACE Book Share.' Children are encouraged to talk about their weekly reading book with their class and share reading activities they have completed. This can then lead to a visit to either myself or Mrs Goakes to collect a reading prize – well worth the effort!
Describe to us how developing a love of books and reading helps pupils progress across the ACE Curriculum?
Quite simply, the more children read, the more knowledge they gather to help them across all areas of the curriculum. We talk lots in school about background knowledge or ‘schema’ and this comes from reading books and learning about many wonderful things.
In our ‘Big Read’ sessions, we often base learning around a ‘theme’, which can be related to geography, history, science or even current news. This helps to further link reading to other areas of the curriculum. In addition, as part of Astley's ACE Curriculum, teachers are encouraged to use reading to inform and develop children's learning– and children just love learning facts as they read and this deepens their knowledge.
Explain to us why Astley is celebrating ACE World Book Day 2022 and what exciting activities are in store for Astley pupils this year?
We are celebrating World Book Day this year by doing lots of the things we haven’t been able to do over the past two years! Firstly, families are invited to come in to the classroom to make an ‘Elmer the Elephant’ with their children – with the purpose of showing how each child is unique and special here at Astley. Then, the children will be mixed together in groups to explore a range of activities across the school linked to the favourite books of staff – with lots of creative fun planned!
Staff and children will also be creating ‘story-doors’ to decorate the entrances of the classrooms and showcase our love of books here at Astley – look out for them in the coming weeks! AND finally, we have an exciting new book project coming soon – all will be revealed next week!
How can parents / carers assist in developing in their children a love of reading and a passion for books at home?
Reading at home is one of the most important things you can do to help your child! Here at Astley we provide a number of books that go home every week – some that the children can read to you, such as their phonic book, and some that you can read to your child, such as their library book.
Remember, any reading is useful - whether it be a book, a football programme, a comic, a sign at the beach or even the back of a cereal packet!
The best way of creating a passion for reading is to show your own excitement for books and reading – if you show this excitement, your children will develop this love too!
Truly, my favourite 10 minutes of the day is bedtime stories with my children – a moment of peace and relaxation in a busy life. Making time for reading is both special and important and can create happy memories that will last forever!
Thank you, Mr Seager, for putting books and reading here at Astley in our ACE Spotlight!
Photos from the day
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