Welcome

Over the past 10 years, I’ve worked with schools to build reading cultures where reading is celebrated and valued by children, staff and families. I’ve written numerous articles about the importance of Reading for Pleasure and delivered sessions at conferences and for many of the English Hubs.

It’s something that I’m passionate about and something I believe in. The recent report from the House of Commons Education Select Committee has made a number of recommendations that mean the work schools do to make reading a central part of school life will become even more important over the next few years.

I’ll still continue to share lots of free ideas, articles and resources, as I always have done. Alongside this, from August, I’m going to start sending a monthly Reading for Pleasure toolkit to subscribers, sharing practical ideas and strategies that schools can use. It will include:

• one Reading for Pleasure audit – for example, Time to Read

• one staff meeting idea

• one research summary

• one classroom idea

• one book list – for example, Verse Novels for KS2

• one parent resource

• links to useful articles and resources

My hope is that each email will give you something to think about, something to discuss with colleagues and, most importantly, something to take away and use in your own school. I’m aiming to keep it simple, practical and affordable, at £5 a month.

If nothing else, it will give me another deadline to worry about.