Reading - by Vicky Palmer
After 20 years teaching internationally, I returned to my hometown
with the aim of helping learners realign their learning crown.
Enrolled on the PG Dip in Education with English, ESOL and Literacy
Opened an opportunity to research the impact of reading extensively.

On the 4 th floor at DHB adult learners flock to classes
With the vision and hope of improving their previous near passes
Asking ‘will this be the year of achieving that elusive grade four?’,
The governments well intentioned literacy score.
It’s necessary to look beyond that single digit’s frame,
For numbers never tell the depth from which our learners came.
Bradford, the city of culture, a tapestry of race
A sanctuary for some and a generally welcoming place.

However, Bradford Council research highlights some really difficult truths
Of how poverty impacts literacy for adults and for youths.
Where disadvantage shapes the start and narrows many doors,
And reading age can trail behind what aspiration soars.

To emphasise the complexities of a Bradford classroom norm
I asked my students to complete a simple Microsoft form
Twenty-five returned the form, their answers as clear as day.
Twenty-four learners speaking multiple languages, what more is there to say?
These people are not just students, they’re parents, workers, wives,
For whom the strain of language threads through busy, crowded lives.
And yet we talk of exam technique, point, evidence and explain
Of structures and of methods to relieve exam pain
But technique alone is scaffolding — it cannot make them free;
A skeleton without a pulse, a shallow literacy.

In 2018 the Department for Education revealed an interesting view:
When reading standards strengthen, outcomes strengthen too.
For resit students most of all, the evidence is clear
Sustained, extensive reading builds comprehension year on year.
Extensive reading is not a new trend or a passing phase;
It is a rooted, proven craft from earlier learning days.

Yet we must carve the time again — protect it, make it real —
For learners to reflect on text, to question what they feel.
For texts can carry culture’s weight, nuanced, layered, profound
Demanding space to ponder them so understandings sound.
They need the time to navigate a text, to annotate to explore
To widen their vocabulary so it’s better than before.
Encourage depth beyond a mark scheme’s narrow view,
For reading builds the writer’s voice to be authentic, strong and true.
When we invest in readers first, attainment will see a rise
Confidence will grow in skill and that is where success lies.
At Bradford College, let’s recognise how reading helps and more
Let language be the lever that opens every door.
For when learners are given the time and opportunity to understand and thrive,
We honour learning’s truest aim and that is to transform lives.