Building whole-school reading communities - National Literacy Trust

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Building whole-school
reading communities
“At the time we joined, our concern
was not about the children’s ability
to read, but their willingness to read
for pleasure. The Reading Connects
approach could have been especially
invented for us.”
Reading Connects school
Featuring the
Reading Connects audit

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Imagine the
difference it would
make if every child
loved to read…
“…finding ways to engage students in
reading may be one of the most effective
ways to leverage social change.”
This is the conclusion of a compelling report,
Reading for Change, based on the findings of the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development’s Programme for International
Student Assessment (OECD, 2002). Such
powerful evidence brings great responsibility
for all those working with children in
schools today. Schools and families are key
in encouraging children to develop a love of
reading. Placing reading for pleasure at the
centre of a school’s ethos and working with
pupils’ families to encourage reading in the
home must be a priority if we are to help
children fulfil their potential.
This booklet was written
by Sarah Osborne and
Julia Strong.
Many thanks to Sue
Sharpe, primary education
consultant, for her
invaluable contribution
to the audit.
www.readingconnects.org.uk

What is Reading Connects?
Reading Connects, a DCSF-funded initiative
delivered by the National Literacy Trust,
supports schools in developing their
own whole-school reading culture.
Reading Connects is more of an ethos
than a project. It encourages schools to
embed a holistic creative approach to
promoting reading for pleasure into their
policies, vision and practice, integrating the
following elements:
• positioning reading for pleasure at the heart of
the school’s policy to raise standards and promote
enjoyment in learning
• involving all members of staff, including catering
staff, the caretaker, governors and parent groups in
promoting reading
• working in partnership with pupils’ families to
encourage reading in the home
• linking up with the local community and other schools
to develop a local coordinated approach to promoting
reading for pleasure
• making reading as visible as possible within the school
environment
• learning from and sharing good practice with
the Reading Connects network of schools
and organisations
On signing up, Reading Connects
schools receive:
• the primary handbook
• the family involvement toolkit
• a certificate
• access to the Reading Connects logo
• the opportunity to become part of the Reading Connects
network and create their own blog
• ongoing support and email newsletters
How do I join
Reading Connects?
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Visit www.readingconnects.org.uk and click on ‘join Reading Connects’ in the lefthand
menu. Locate your local authority and fill in the short form. The final stage
of the form asks you to indicate two flexible action points, which you can always
change at a later date. These can be decided upon by completing the audit on pages
6-9 of this booklet, or independently as part of your school improvement plan.
How can I support
Reading Connects
schools in my local
authority?
Local authorities and School Library
Services can sign up as Reading
Connects partners. Visit www.
readingconnects.org.uk and click on
‘local authority partners’ to find
out how you can encourage schools
in your area to build whole-school
reading communities.

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How do I run
Reading Connects in
my school?
Once you have signed up to Reading Connects, it is up to you how you develop
your reading culture. We have no special requirements or criteria for you to fulfil,
but can offer tools and support as you progress. All we ask is that you share your
ideas and good practice with us so that schools can continue to learn from each
other’s experiences.
A number of schools have found the following suggestions useful:
1. Form a small focus group of about four to
five staff members (this will vary according to
the size of your school)
Be sure to include real enthusiasts in your group, who
will run with the idea of embedding reading for pleasure
across the whole school community. Make sure that there
is at least one member of senior management (if possible
the headteacher) in your team, as this will be vital in
overcoming potential barriers.
2. Complete the Reading Connects audit
The self-evaluation framework on pages 6-9 of this
booklet will allow your focus group to look at the school’s
current reading for pleasure provision and see which areas
need developing.
3. Get the rest of the staff on board
A whole-school commitment to moving forward with
the Reading Connects approach will be essential. If you
are looking for recruitment tools to use for staff meetings,
Inset etc, there are numerous Reading Connects resources
on the website to help.
4. Make reading for pleasure as visible as
possible in school
The Reading Connects website includes some great ideas
for raising the profile of reading in your school. As well
as the school corridors, classrooms and foyer, it is also a
good idea to make reading for pleasure visible in places
where pupils might not expect to see reading promotions
– the playground or the dining hall, for example.
5. Focus on further areas to strengthen your activity
When you are happy with the visual profile that reading
for pleasure has in your school, you may like to think
about focusing on further areas identified in the audit.
Certainly, engaging pupils’ families in promoting reading
in the home will be an important area to consider.
6. Explore the Reading Connects network in
your area
Search for your local authority on the website and identify
which schools have also signed up to the initiative and
which members of the local authority team have signed
up as Reading Connects partners. Schools and local
authority teams are encouraged to use this area of the
website to build effective learning communities.
7. Share your good practice with us
We are always really keen to hear about your experiences
of developing a reading for pleasure culture, so that we
can share your good practice and experiences with other
schools and authorities. Showcase your reading activity by
using your school’s Reading Connects blog. Alternatively,
you can email case studies to
readingconnects@literacytrust.org.uk.
The Reading Connects audit on
pages 6-9 of this booklet is optional
and can be completed before or after
signing up.
The audit has been designed to
encourage you to review the provision
for promoting reading for pleasure
across the whole school community.
It can also be downloaded from
www.readingconnects.org.uk
www.readingconnects.org.uk

The Reading Connects website
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www.readingconnects.org.uk can be
accessed by everyone and is a free
information portal for schools and
organisations looking for inspiration on
how to develop a whole-school reading
culture. The website features:
• tried-and-tested practical ideas
• Reading Connects resources and links to
reading resources from other organisations
• the Reading Connects audit
• advice on how to run Reading Connects in a
school, including funding advice
• inspiring case studies
• access to your local Reading Connects
community
Have you visited
www.readingconnects.org.uk
lately?
“I was very impressed with the
resources offered on the Reading
Connects website and would urge
every school to register. I can
only say to those who work
with children of any age and
want to encourage the love
of books, log on to the site and get
searching. The ideas and help are
there, so use them.”
Reading Connects school

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Reading Connects primary audit
This audit, on pages 6-9, is a useful tool for schools to review their current reading for pleasure provision. It
provides an overview of the areas where they have developed a strong reading culture and also those
where there is room for more focus. Schools may like to revisit this audit at a later date to see where they
have made progress.
Area of focus Developing Establishing Enhancing
Whole-school vision, policy and strategy
Whole-school
strategy
Whole-staff
engagement
Continuing
professional
development
Promoting reading for
pleasure is part of the school
improvement plan (SIP).
One staff member leads on
this and all staff are aware of
this priority.
All teaching staff actively
promote reading in and out
of lesson time.
Staff member in charge of
the library has opportunities
to attend training on
reading issues.
Promoting reading for
pleasure is an ongoing part
of the school strategy to raise
standards and is an important
part of the SIP. Staff are
involved in delivering this
strategy.
Reading advocacy uses staff
members as role models.
Adult/children’s book
recommendations have a
regular slot in staff briefings.
Promoting reading for
pleasure is central to the
school’s policy to achieve and
enjoy. It forms an important
foundation for improvement
within the SIP.
Reading celebration and
advocacy involves all groups
of the wider school
community, including catering
staff, caretakers, governors
and parent groups.
Providing ideas for promoting
reading is integrated into the
school’s Inset programme.
Crosscurricular
links
Subject leaders compile
topic booklists and teachers
use some class time to
promote reading related to
curriculum areas.
Use of library for wider
reading and research around
topic areas is integrated
into schemes of work across
curriculum areas.
Curriculum delivery
integrates developing reading
independence and promoting
reading for pleasure and
research in class and beyond.
Monitoring
pupils’
attitudes to
reading
Pupil
involvement
Information is collected
from pupils with special
educational needs through
surveys to establish their
attitude to reading and
inform planning/support.
Pupils’ opinions and
recommendations are sought
when planning reading for
pleasure promotion.
Information is collected from
gifted and talented pupils
and pupils from vulnerable
backgrounds through surveys
to establish their attitudes to
reading and inform planning/
support.
Pupils are involved in
planning and delivering the
school’s reading for pleasure
promotion.
All pupils’ attitudes to
reading are monitored
throughout KS1 and KS2 via
journals or other methods.
This information is used to
personalise provision and
meet individual needs.
Pupils are a central part
and have a lead role in
planning and delivering the
school’s reading for pleasure
promotion.
www.readingconnects.org.uk

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Area of focus Developing Establishing Enhancing
Reading promotion
Visibility of
reading
The foyer, corridors and
classrooms celebrate all
types of reading, including
pupil recommendations.
School publicity material,
including websites and
newsletters, promotes the
importance of all types
of reading.
Pupil involvement in ensuring
the visibility of reading for
pleasure throughout the
school is maintained in
both an imaginative and
interactive way.
Peer-to-peer
recommendation
ICT
Some peer-to-peer
recommendation takes place
between pupils.
Pupils are encouraged to use
the internet to post book
reviews, recommend reading
materials etc.
Reading events and groups
Reading
events
Reading
groups
Buddying
Reading is promoted during
school events and in school
assemblies.
Pupil reading groups run
regularly.
Some in-class or cross-yeargroup
buddy reading takes
place.
A system for peer-to-peer
reading recommendations
(using the school ICT
system) is established
throughout the school
community.
Pupils use multimedia to
promote reading activity in
the school.
Several reading events are
held each year, linking in
with national events such
as World Book Day and
National Children’s Book
Week.
Special interest reading
groups run regularly and/or
groups are run that link in
with national schemes, such
as Greenaway, or local book
awards.
In-class, cross-year-group or
primary-secondary school
buddy reading takes place
throughout school regularly.
Pupils play an important
role in running the system
for peer-to-peer reading
recommendation.
School uses web technology
to link with other schools
on reading projects – for
example, using video
conferencing to develop
international links.
Reading promotion
events take place regularly
throughout the year including
a school book week/reading
focus week.
Parents, staff and the wider
school community take part
in school reading groups.
Pupils have a lead role in
organising pupil reading
groups.
Pupils are central to
developing and sustaining
school buddying scheme.

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Reading Connects primary audit continued...
Area of focus Developing Establishing Enhancing
School library
School
library/corner
accessibility
and display
Stock
Pupil
involvement
Library is welcoming and
resources are easily accessed.
As well as a good range of
fiction and non-fiction titles,
the school library stocks
magazines, newspapers,
comics etc.
Pupils are involved in
suggesting and selecting
some of the school’s reading
resources, with pupils’
choices clearly marked.
Special interest groups
Boys
School promotes reading
materials and booklists
targeted at boys.
Pupils and
families
from diverse
cultures and
backgrounds
Transition
Year 6 to 7
A range of dual language
texts or appropriate
materials reflecting pupils’
diverse cultures and
backgrounds is available for
pupils to borrow.
Specific ideas are used
to ease transition – for
example, Year 6 pupils send
suggested holiday reads
to their new school for
display on their entry to
Year 7. Procedures promote
progression in reading from
year to year.
Clear signage and interesting
displays encourage library use
with promotions related to
the curriculum. Library
is open throughout the
school day.
Classrooms have a class
library corner which is
well stocked and regularly
updated. It includes children’s
own published work.
Pupil librarians are trained to
maintain and develop school
library.
Boys’ reading clubs and
reading events run regularly.
School systems promoting
reading for pleasure and
reading groups are established
to meet the needs of pupils
from diverse cultures and
backgrounds.
Regular initiatives aid
transition – for example, visits
by Year 7 and older pupils for
reading activities.
School or class library is
presented in bookshop style,
and is also open beyond the
school day.
Library has a well stocked
section for pupils’ parents/
carers and wider family
members who are emergent
adult readers.
Pupil involvement in
selection of school reading
resources and library
management is integral
to the system.
School runs an effective
project involving boys
promoting reading for all ages
– for example, the Reading
Champions scheme.
Pupils and families from
diverse cultures and
backgrounds are involved in
promoting reading to pupils.
School develops a reading
for pleasure strategy with
local secondary schools to
ease transition, and pupils’
views are taken into account
during planning.
www.readingconnects.org.uk

9
Area of focus Developing Establishing Enhancing
Family involvement
Support All parents/carers are made
aware of the importance of
encouraging their children
to read and how the school
can support them through
materials eg booklists and
top reading tips.
Family events
and activities
Adult
basic skills
provision
Community involvement
Working in
partnership
with other
schools
Public library /
School Library
Service
(where
appropriate)
Involving
organisations
and adults
from the
community
Reading for pleasure is
promoted during school
events and activities to
which family members/
carers are invited.
Information is signposted
for parents/carers to improve
their literacy skills where
appropriate.
School liaises with other
schools in the area to
develop and share reading
for pleasure ideas.
School encourages pupils
to use the public library,
and displays information
leaflets from library. School
subscribes to SLS (where
it exists).
Community members/
organisations regularly
support reading in school
– for example, through a
volunteer reading scheme.
Communication methods
are adapted to suit target
group of parents/carers. Some
parents/carers themselves are
used as advocates.
Family reading events/
activities are run during the
year and some parents/carers
are involved in the planning.
Links are in place with family
learning services to help
identify parents and wider
family members who struggle
with literacy skills.
School holds reading events
with other schools.
Class visits to library and
visits from the children’s
librarian/SLS take place.
School liaises with local
library on Summer
Reading Challenge.
School works with
community organisations on
project(s) to promote reading
among pupils.
Parents/carers are offered
regular support sessions on
choosing reading materials
and reading with children
in KS1 and KS2. Regular
feedback from parents/carers
and children is used to inform
planning.
Family reading events/
activities are run for target
groups – for example,
dads, grandparents or
EAL families.
The services of a family
learning coordinator are
available in school to help
parents/carers and wider family
members improve their own
literacy skills.
School develops reading for
pleasure strategies and shares
good practice with a group of
schools in the area as part of
an authority-wide focus.
Joint projects and events are
held by school and public
library and/or SLS. Pupils are
part of focus groups.
Community organisations,
including possible business
partnerships, are involved
through coordinating reading
activity in joint projects with
schools.

Daily Reader
West Thornton Primary
School is a reading school
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Case studies
By sharing good
practice, we can build on
what other schools have
learnt and minimise
additional workload.
Spreading the word
about case studies and
good ideas offers the
chance to learn about
what has worked well in
one school and develop
activities to suit
your school.
Di Pumphrey, deputy
head at West Thornton
Primary School in
Croydon – Reading
Connects primary
school of the year
2006/2007 – explains
how making reading
more visible has had
a dramatic effect on
the school’s reading
culture.
When pupils come to
school and when parents
visit us, we want them
to know that we value
reading. The importance
of making reading for
enjoyment visible has
been one of the tenets
in developing our
reading culture.
In raising the profile
of West Thornton as
a reading school, we
find that it is often the
simplest things, and
those that have very
little financial demand,
that have the most
impact. For example,
the Get Caught Reading
campaign has been
an easy, fun way of
highlighting readers all
over the school. All staff,
including support, kitchen
and office staff and
the caretaker, feature
on posters around the
school with information
about their current read.
We also invite pupils
to recommend a book
to popular characters,
whose posters are all
over the school. The
toilet doors even have
popular book characters
painted on them!
We are confident that
our children and their
families recognise that
West Thornton is a
reading school; that
reading is not confined
to book corners but
at the heart of our
curriculum. We have
lit a spark amongst the
children, and are working
to ensure that it keeps
burning.
Practical ideas for raising the
profile of reading in school
Extreme reading
Bridge the reading gap during the holidays and challenge
pupils to have themselves photographed reading in the
most exotic or bizarre locations. Make a display of the
images in the school corridors or foyer.
Babysitting boxes
Create babysitting boxes that can be lent out to pupils
to encourage them to read with their younger siblings.
Fill the boxes with any unwanted children’s books that
families may have at home. Also include tips for pupils
on how to share rhymes and stories.
ICT
Use ICT to help promote reading – set homepages
to author websites and get pupils to design bookrelated
screensavers to spread the word about
recommended reads.
Name classrooms after authors or poets
Name each of the classrooms after well-known children’s
authors or poets. Encourage pupils to explore their
particular nominated author/poet and make displays and
act out their stories in assembly.
Real men read…
Use photographs of boys, male members of staff and men
from the local community reading, with quotes about
what they read and why. Use these materials to create a
‘real men read’ poster or calendar campaign.
www.readingconnects.org.uk

Question:
How do I involve the boys in my school when developing a reading culture?
Answer:
Run a Reading Champions project.
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Involving boys and men in
creating a reading culture
www.readingchampions.org.uk

What Reading Connects schools say:
“Reading Connects has helped us think about our school-based initiatives, like
parent groups and reading circles, in a more coherent way. It links with many
aspirations contained within our school improvement plan and Every Child Matters.
Promoting reading for pleasure is key to raising standards; it is the only guaranteed
way of ensuring children and young people continue to be lifelong learners.”
“The ability to quote from the successes of other Reading Connects schools adds
weight to any discussion about the role of reading. It shows that we mean business!”
“The audit process was in itself really useful. I thought we already did quite a lot
to promote reading for pleasure in our school but the audit gave me new ideas
and inspiration.”
“Reading for pleasure is the key to lifelong learning. Schools
with a real culture of reading will be able to give their pupils
the key to learning independently so that they can fulfil
their potential. Reading Connects offers schools excellent
resources and ideas for developing a reading culture and I
would encourage all schools to consider becoming a Reading
Connects school.”
Jim Knight
Minister of State for Schools and Learners
Reading Connects is delivered by the National Literacy Trust on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Visit www.readingconnects.org.uk, email readingconnects@literacytrust.org.uk or call 020 7820 6267.
National Literacy Trust is a registered charity, no. 1116260, and a company limited by guarantee, no. 5836486.
Registered in England and Wales. Registered address: 68 South Lambeth Road, London SW8 1RL. Tel: 020 7587 1842.