The Raising Readers programme which is part of our Young Readers Programmes and supported by the publisher Hachette UK, instils a love of reading through immersive and engaging events where children choose books to keep and take home, and parents and carers are inspired be reading role models.
In 2026 the programme:
- reached over 500 pupils,
- gifted over 1,515 books, and
- included volunteering opportunities for Hachette UK colleagues to support reading for pleasure in schools and their communities.
Owler Brook Primary School, Sheffield, is a school in one of the most deprived areas of the country. Claire Heyes, the Assistant Head, and the whole staff team work hard to foster a reading for pleasure culture that spoke to and met the specific needs of their community.
Claire tells us how their first two Raising Readers events have supported and amplified their approach to reading for pleasure, engaging more parents and families from the community.
“We worked together as a staff team to craft our vision statement. Everyone – teachers, cleaners, office staff, support staff and lunch staff – spent time discussing what matters to us at the school. We all agreed that we want to be ‘a family for our families’. We want parents to feel safe and welcomed in school; especially as schools may be unfamiliar places for some parents, for instance those who have had few educational experiences themselves. That drives our whole approach.
The Raising Readers programme has amplified this sense of togetherness to promote the benefits of reading for pleasure.
Supported by the National Literacy Trust in partnership with Hachette publishers, we have taken part in three fun reading events, whereby parents and families were invited into school to enjoy reading together, choose new books from Hachette UK’s list to take home, and take part in activities in a relaxed, informal and non-threatening way. For many of our pupils, this was the first time they would get to take a book home of their own to share with their family.
Claire Heyes, Assistant Head at Owler Brook Primary School, Sheffield
Our first event was a Story Café, with our children and parents enjoying refreshments alongside story activities. Hachette UK volunteers supported the event by modelling to parents how to read together, share a story time book, or chat to pupils and parents about Hachette’s diverse range of tempting children’s books. The Story Café model was a resounding success with positive feedback from teachers, pupils and parents.
Pupils loved receiving a new book to take home and keep and they enjoyed engaging with the brilliant volunteers and having their parents and carers there to share this experience. We were surprised by how many parents attended. It made us reflect even more on how to keep adapting our school strategy to engage parents and families with reading in this way.
Claire Heyes, Assistant Head at Owler Brook Primary School, Sheffield
We had even more parents join us for the second event, which was incredible to see, and they shared in the excitement with their children. The success of the Story Café event must have spread, with parents and families feeling confident to attend another event that was relaxed and non-threatening for them.
The programme has given the chance for pupils to see that reading for pleasure can be for them, taking home wonderful Hachette UK books to keep – for many an exciting and rewarding first!”
