Today I had the pleasure of introducing Professor Kirpal Singh to our grade 11 and 12 students as the inaugural event of our Writers Fortnight, masterminded (mistressminded?) by Kate Levy, our HS Head of English. Professor Singh spoke on the importance and power of language, and the role of poetry. A talk, you might think, for a small proportion of our students who intend to go into that area, and perhaps only of relevance to those wishing to study literature.
But you would be wrong.
The value of sensitivity to language, as a writer or a reader, in any field, is hard to overestimate. In academic terms, reading widely has an impact right across the curriculum. Research from the Institute of Education (IOE) shows that children who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better at school than their peers. More broadly, reading itself is of immense value well beyond any particular book. Dana Goia, Chair of the National Endowment for Arts writes: Reading correlates with almost every measurement of positive personal and social behavior surveyed. It is reassuring, though hardly amazing, that readers attend more concerts and theater than non-readers, but it is surprising that they exercise more and play more sports—no matter what their educational level. Cold statistics confirm something that most readers know but have mostly been reluctant to declare as fact — books change lives for the better. (from To Read accessed 7 / 1 / 14)
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| These days we may not always need physical books, but there is no doubt that love of reading is as important to a child’s future as it ever was |
So while it’s great that reading improves academic attainment, the value of reading widely is far more profound. And by encouraging appreciation of word craft, this special event will encourage a deeper understanding of the art of writing, and hence a love of reading. Here are some highlights:
- Each Grade 11 Language and Literature class will meet a journalist, discussing and analysing with them an article written by that journalist to get a rare insight to the intentions of the producer of the text.
- Literature Higher Level classes will each be getting novelist Tabby Stirling round the discussion table – an ordinary exercise in reader-response made unique.
- The Grade 9s will be playing journalist, meeting migrant workers and volunteers from NGO Transient Workers Count Too and interviewing them about their lives and experiences for a feature article. They’ll also be interviewing writers in the school community – teachers, parents and students – to find out who is Write Here Writing.
- The Grade 10s and FIBs have the opportunity to sign up to meet with an author-mentor and show them their own creative writing for some guidance about how to develop their skills. Novelist and columnist Neil Humphreys will also be helping them to to improve their responses to one of the writing tasks on the recent mock paper through a workshop.
Please do ask your children about their experiences.
