This is a chapter from the UKLA publication Literacy and Community: developing a primary curriculum through partnerships. It describes how a class teacher and a literacy consultant in a multilingual school in Birmingham developed a teaching sequence to explore identity and citizenship. The teacher, Katie Palmer, is now Deputy Head Teacher and Curriculum and Assessment Leader, and the school now has 356 children on roll. The book Literacy and Community invites readers to reflect on their own practice and the chapter ends with some prompt questions. If you find this article interesting, why not look in the UKLA bookshop for Literacy and Community for examples of partnerships with homes, parents and communities throughout the primary age range.

Taking as its starting point a selection of surveys and policy documents before moving to consider views from theorists, writers and young readers, this article seeks to stimulate debate about why reading literature as part of the curriculum still matters.