Reading's now a family thing

Educational fads might come and go but reading still underpins everything, and at Waima School, west of Kaikohe, reading has become something that whole families are doing together.

Board of trustees chair Dallas Williams said staff were driving a real focus on literacy following the success of their numeracy evening in the first term. 'Reading Together' was a four-week course designed by education researcher and writer Jeanne Biddulph to create positive reading experiences in the home and increase student achievement and confidence.

And the community had welcomed the programme.

"Parents have been treated to demonstrations showing how they can support their child's reading, tips on how to create the right environment, how to choose reading material that will appeal to their child, and are given the opportunity to discuss any problems they may have with reading at home," Ms Williams said.

"New entrant teacher Catherine Bawden has been facilitating the evenings, which have seen more than 70 per cent of the school's families attending and participating in an unprecedented level of support for this kind of 'parent learning' initiative.

"I'm not complaining. It's good to have to find more seats for people," she said.

"This just shows that families in Waima take their children's education seriously and are willing to put the work in at home too.

"We now have a situation where parents are committing a couple of evenings every term to ensure they are up to date with understanding what their child is being taught in the classroom and finding out how they can best support that learning to continue at home. It will only mean great things for our students."

Ms Bawden, she added, was a "reading maniac," who was responsible for the promotion of the programme at Waima.

"Our new entrants have amazing reading skills, and are so expressive," she said.