News6th March 2025

A chapter a day: Why children should read every day – not just on World Book Day

Did you know that reading as a child has a big impact on your physical and mental health outcomes well into adulthood? And that studies have shown that those who read books live almost 23 months longer than non-readers?

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Students reading at Ark Blake Academy in Croydon

This year marks the 30^th anniversary of World Book Day, a special day that celebrates reading. It’s a simple pleasure that many of us take for granted but in 2024, National Literacy Trust found that 1 in 10 children aged 5 to 18 don’t own a single book at home. Among children receiving free school meals, this jumps to 1 in 8 – the highest level it’s been since 2016.

National Literacy Trust found that more than three times as many young people aged 8 to 18 who had a book of their own at home said they read every day, compared to those who didn’t own a book (23 percent vs 7 percent).

And children with books at home achieve, on average, three years more schooling, regardless of their parents’ education, occupation, and economic status.

Reading for life

All the research shows that reading ability has a considerable impact on both educational attainment and wider life outcomes. Strong reading skills improve children’s academic ability and achievement across a whole range of subjects, including English, maths and science.

That’s why reading is a key strategic priority for Ark schools. We believe that all children should have access to the benefits and pleasure of being able to read well. As a result, we put reading at the heart of every subject and implement reading interventions for those whose reading age is falling more than two years behind. In the past two years, around 3,500 (almost one in nine) of our students have benefited from a targeted reading intervention.

 This approach works. Seventy-four percent of children leaving an Ark primary school are reading at or above their chronological age – compared to 39 percent when they were first tested in year two. This is 24 percentage points above the national average of 50 percent.

Ark is grateful to partners – including the Foyle Foundation, Bookmark Reading Charity, Children’s Book Project and National Literacy Trust – who support our reading strategy.

Their donations have funded more than 10,000 new books for schools across our network this academic year, giving many more children the chance to enjoy reading.

Ark Curriculum Plus introduces English Mastery Primary

Ark’s reading journey doesn’t stop within our own network. Later this month, Ark Curriculum Plus (AC+) will launch its first ever English programme for primary schools.

Through English Mastery Primary, AC+ will share the reading approaches that have proven so impactful for Ark students beyond our own schools.

This research-driven subject excellence programme has been four years in the making and trialled by 55 primary schools – with more than 550 teachers and 17,800 pupils – across the country.

The high-quality literature spine links reading, writing and grammar strands, and includes a diverse range of complete texts such as The Wild Robot, The Boy at the Back of the Class and Windrush Child.

Caroline Malley, a senior leader from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Maltby, told Ark about the impact the programme has had on reading at her school. She said:

There has been a significant impact on enjoyment and engagement. Children speak passionately about the texts and have thoroughly enjoyed them. Progress in reading has been significant.

Through English Mastery Primary’s Reading Signature Strategies, we can ensure more children become fluent and metacognitive readers, by:

• mastering rate, expression, accuracy and phrasing to become fluent readers
• developing transferable strategies to secure independent vocabulary acquisition skills
• making connections between the ideas in the text and their background knowledge to comprehend and interpret

This in turn enables pupil to:

• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for pleasure and information, and
• develop a love of literature and an appreciation for our rich and varied literary heritage.

To find out more about the English Mastery curriculum, which will be available from Monday 24 March, join us for a special webinar at 4pm on Thursday 27 March. Please register here.