Nurturing Reading for Pleasure in Children in Care

The team developed book and craft packages for all primary aged children in care during the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic. Children were sent one or two books such as ‘Horrible Histories’ and ‘Mega Mash Up Activity Book’ for older children and ‘DC Superpets’ and ‘Don’t bring your dragon to the library’ for younger children. All children were also sent craft materials and instructions for two rainbow themed craft activities, along with rainbow glasses to make their world a more colourful place!

153 parcels!

Key Stage Two children received their packages first with Year 5 and 6 parcels sent out in May, followed by Year 3 and 4 in June. Key Stage One children were sent theirs in July. A total of 153 parcels were sent out by the end of the month. We have loved putting together all of the parcels, and the books and materials were selected with real care and attention, so it was lovely to receive some photos and positive feedback from recipients!

The importance of reading for pleasure

It is so important to introduce and develop reading for pleasure in children’s lives. Studies show that it is more important to read for pleasure than to be from a privileged background. For our children in care, and their carers, this is such an incredibly powerful message- being engaged in reading can aid in transcending the adversities of being a child in care.

“It is really important for children to engage in reading activities from a young age, that they are taught to enjoy books and develop a love of reading to carry forward into adult life. During the coronavirus lockdown, many carers were keen to find fresh material for our looked-after children, and the book parcels provided by the Participation team made a huge difference in keeping them engaged with, and enthusiastic about books during the period they were not in school. Thank you for your generous support.” – Tony Barnard, Head of Leicestershire Virtual School