ABSTRACT
It may be quite usual to meet avid readers who write very little, but it is very rare to find a good writer who does not read. So a school that gives very high priority to the teaching of writing will also be one where good books are plentiful; where good literature is enjoyed and celebrated; and where everyone in school – children, teaching and non-teaching staff, parents and governors – reads, knows, talks and cares about books. Building this kind of ‘reading culture’ in a school takes commitment and hard work from everyone, but the benefits for children are immense. Children who are part of a reading culture learn how being truly literate is about so much more than being able to read well enough to make sense of what they need to at secondary school, or to get a job, or to read at a level which allows them to function in the adult world, however important all those things may be. Once welcomed into the world of the reader, children become part of a community which will enrich and sustain them for the rest of their lives. The world of the reader is one with many rich connections and, once guided into it by nurturing and knowledgeable adults, one in which children can find their own places based on their own preferences as one good book leads to another. No one reader can be expected to know their way around the whole of that immense landscape, but if a child is to become a good writer they are likely to begin their exploration early and never stop.
