Reading Poetry - Poetry holds a special place in primary education. Many of the texts children initially encounter in the home or at preschool are poetic in form, from rhyming picture books, nonsense poems and nursery rhymes. These encounters with poetry, with their infectious rhythms, rhymes and repetitions, are crucial for introducing the fundamentals of literacy. Before being able to read, very young children need to be aware of how the sounds in words work. Poems help teach children the sounds in spoken language through chants and rhymes.

Poetry exposes children to rich vocabulary, diverse sentence structures, and vivid imagery. Through reading aloud, reciting, and performing poems, children develop oral language skills and fluency.

Through both our reading and writing lessons at Northmead, we ensure children have regular exposure and access to poetry, from a range of poets, in a range of voices and in a variety of forms. We do unpick poetry, looking for meaning in the words, but we also allow time just to immerse ourselves in the joy of the words by providing opportunities for children to bring poems to life by reading aloud and performing to their classmates.

Some interesting statistics from the National Literacy Trust 2022: Children and young people who read poetry had higher reading engagement than those who do not read poetry. Compared with those who do not read poetry, more children who read poetry said that they enjoy reading (62.3% vs. 42.0%) reading daily (37.7% vs. 24.3%) and see themselves as good readers (85.5% vs. 78.2%)

If you would like to share some good quality poetry with your child, here are a couple of useful links: https://www.thereaderteacher.com/upper-ks2-poetry https://www.booksfortopics.com/booklists/topics/literacy-reading/primary-poetry/