Knowsley Council’s Family Hubs is working in partnership with The Book Trust on the Reading Rights campaign which aims to make reading a universal right for all children under 7 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Safari-themed rhyme and story time
At Northwood Family Hub in Kirkby, a safari-themed rhyme and story time is available, with a special guest appearance from BookTrust’s Reading Rights Ambassador and children’s author, Frank Cottrell-Boyce. After singing, a story from Frank, and plenty of “stomping”, families also spend time sharing their views on what could happen locally to make sharing stories feel more accessible to people in Knowsley.
“We need reading to be accessible for everybody,” says Nicola Parker, Knowsley Council’s Family Hubs Transformation Manager. “We want families to come in here and feel like their confidence is boosted when they walk out of these sessions.”
Integrating Reading Rights into Primary Care
Kirkby GP Mike Merriman said “Events such as story time mean you can sit down and interact with families and just listen to what they have to say. Then, when we come to develop messaging and services to encourage shared reading, they are more likely to feel familiar to families, and therefore to bring change.
“We have an opportunity to bring reading into the healthcare space. For example, I do a weekly baby clinic in Kirkby, and 95% of our mums here go through that clinic – so we have a captive audience. I felt we could play a role in encouraging and evangelising the joy and benefits of reading, and work with partners here in Knowsley to see if we could increase these opportunities for families.”
Why group storytelling matters to communities
The session at Northwood Family Hub gives BookTrust the opportunity to hear directly from families and practitioners and to support the development of a new group storytelling programme that can take place in trusted community settings where families feel most comfortable. You can hear more in a short film here.
Julie Hayward, BookTrust’s Director of Partnerships, said “We would like to create a blueprint for how this can be successful across other areas. If we can identify things that work that are centred on local needs, but that are also adaptable, we can deepen BookTrust’s impact for children and families.
“It is clear how the trusted relationships families hold with Northwood Family Hub staff are having a positive impact, both on children and their caregivers who come here to share stories as a group.”
Local mum Kirsten said “My daughter thinks it’s a second home here. She loves all the staff and has interacted with so many children. Her confidence has just grown.
Local dad Jay said “My son loves reading stories at home, but that all started here. Now, he’ll look at three or four books at bedtime. It’s bringing him along loads, he’s really advanced for his age. The proof’s in the pudding.”
Frank Cottrell-Boyce reflects on the power of group storytelling to not only support children on their reading journeys, but to bring communities together. He said “You couldn’t come out of here without feeling optimistic. In times like this, we’ve forgotten to imagine what better looks like. Better looks like this.
“Parenting can be so isolating. And here are these young mums, chatting away to each other, sharing life hacks, empowering each other. And the story is that magic charm that brings all that together and makes it happen.”
‘Making every contact count’ with local partners in Knowsley
A task force has been established – the Knowsley Reading Rights Pathway.
Sofia Cairns, BookTrust’s Strategic Development and Partnerships Manager, said “Thanks to local connections, we’ve created this group of local practitioners. We’ve discussed barriers to reading, learning from one another, and identifying opportunities to collaborate. We’ve mapped out the touchpoints the group has with families throughout a child’s early years, from antenatal to starting school. We spoke about ways we could incorporate consistent messaging about sharing books into these moments, without creating new infrastructure, but capitalising on what is there already.”
The Knowsley Reading Rights Pathway is also shaping new resources and practitioner training from BookTrust to support best practice in talking about books and delivering storytelling experiences for families.
Sofia added “The aim is for professionals to feel confident having conversations about shared reading with families, and to signpost to support from services in the area. We’ve also been meeting with families in Knowsley to hear from them about ways they would feel inspired to read together, and we’re keeping them at the heart of this work throughout.”
Mike Merriman said “This project with BookTrust has generated real excitement in the borough. We’ve now mapped out what we think the problems are, and we’ve started to bring solutions. Those solutions are around messaging, around training for healthcare professionals, and around making every contact with families count.”
Cllr Sean Donnelly, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said “I’m delighted to showcase this project here in Knowsley. It shows the value of partnership working for the benefit of our communities and the outcomes being delivered through reading. As well as supporting with a child’s development, there is also the social impact and benefits to children and their families around wellbeing and confidence that are clearly demonstrated through this project. Well done to everyone involved.”
Find out more about Reading Rights