A recent school readiness survey out of the UK makes startling reading, says Mrs Helen Loe, Deputy Head of Wyvern and Head of Teaching K-6. 

‘The study found that almost 50 per cent of parents surveyed believe it is not their responsibility to teach their children how to use books and to turn pages rather than swiping or tapping them like a smart phone.’ 

This finding by an early education charitable foundation surveyed 1000 teachers and 1000 parents across England and Wales. And there are equally worrying findings in Australia with independent think tank, the Grattan Institute, revealing in 2024 only 12 per cent of 15 year olds in Australian schools are able to read at an advanced level. 

‘With all the other diversions of growing up in today’s world, not many children choose to simply pick up a poetry book and read it on their own accord. They need to hear it performed and brought to life. That’s the magic of it all.’  

‘These findings are concerning, and in part compound our determination across Newington Prep schools to reduce the usage of iPads as much as possible in our classrooms and to ensure our students are surrounded by text rich environments’ says Mrs Loe. 

Key to this, says Ms Aleca Bradshaw, Head of Professional Growth/English Learning and Teacher Co-ordinator at Wyvern Prep, is ensuring students’ ongoing exposure to books, and hearing the written word spoken, and performed.  

‘The oral language skills we develop as children are primarily learnt through the literature and language structures found in beautiful picture books and their stories’ Ms Bradshaw says.  

‘We don’t tend to speak in that way in our family language to each other, and with the way we communicate with each other at home progressively more and more stifled by screens, it is imperative our students hear language spoken to learn how to use it to express themselves.’ 

This emphasis on language includes a mapped out English curriculum from Kindergarten to Year 6 which encompasses writing, speaking, and live performance opportunities such as a recent visit by acclaimed poet Solli Raphael.  

 In 2017 Solli Raphael, then aged 12, became the youngest winner of the Australian Poetry Slam National Final with his poem about standing up to create change.  

Now the author of four books, Solli Raphael captured Year 5 and Year 6’s attention and imagination for an hour as he read some of his poetry and other written prose and engaged pupils in questions of writing and self-identity.  

Ms Bradshaw says visits from acclaimed poets and authors such Solli Raphael are crucial to students’ language development. 

‘Poetry teaches students voice because poetry is performance,’ she says.  

‘We don’t often read poetry quietly in our head because poems are written to be performed. So, through visits from poets like Solli, children can hear the rhythm of a poem and see how the poet uses voice and body to make a point.  That’s the provocation and its essential in the development of children’s fluency in literature and language.’ 

Mrs Loe concurs.  

‘With all the other diversions of growing up in today’s world, not many children choose to simply pick up a poetry book and read it on their own accord. They need to hear it performed and brought to life. That’s the magic of it all.’  

Click here  to learn more about Newington College Prep Schools at Stanmore and Lindfield or book a campus tour here.