Building reading for pleasure cultures through diverse reading provision and choice

Join the first in a year-long series of twice-termly professional development webinars for primary schools.

Find out more about the second session taking place in February here.

About this webinar

Join us for this national practitioner-facing event as part of the National Year of Reading, a national movement to unlock the life-changing benefits of reading. This is the first part of our series of twice-termly professional development sessions. These free events will incorporate practical tools, national moments, shared reading experiences and flexible engagement so schools can participate in ways that fit their context.

By increasing routes into reading through diverse texts and formats, we want to empower more children to read for pleasure and by choice. Through practical strategies which can be used throughout the year and beyond, we want to support primary schools' ongoing work to enhance reading for pleasure. Join us to explore new, practical ways to continue to build a rich, inclusive, curriculum-wide reading culture using books which reflect children's experiences and widen their world.

Why attend this webinar?

Building on the work of our Diverse Libraries programme and the Reflecting Realities report, speakers from the National Literacy Trust and Centre for Literacy in Primary Education will take a research-informed deep dive into how diverse collections, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, graphic novels, manga, picture books and hybrid texts, audiobooks and e-readers, can support reader identity. Attendees will:

• Audit current reading provision
• Reflect on strengths and gaps
• Begin to plan strategically for developing rich, personally meaningful and representative collections

Who can attend?

We invite primary headteachers, literacy leads, class teachers, librarians and reading champions working with children aged 4 to 11.

Aims of this webinar

• To strengthen understanding of the role of book collections in reading for pleasure
• To help schools evaluate how well their current collections meet pupils’ needs and interests
• To increase confidence in curating representative and diverse reading materials
• To support purposeful pupil choice at every primary phase
• To connect schools with national support and expertise

Intended outcomes

By the end of the webinar, schools will:

• Feel more confident to audit their current book collections
• Understand fundamental principles of curation and organisation
• Be better able to identify gaps in representation and range
• Have practical ideas to increase meaningful pupil choice
• Be ready to begin or refine a strategic plan for their reading provision

Register for this free event

Join us and be part of the national movement to strengthen reading for pleasure in primary schools.

This webinar is free and available to all primary schools. Sign up using the form below.