The National Literacy Trust and HarperCollins founded ‘Our Little Big Book Club’ out of a shared mission to improve reading for pleasure levels, with delivery focussed in areas facing the highest levels of literacy disadvantage across the UK. Parents and their children are gifted books to take home, forming the basis for a range of reading activities and games, alongside dedicated reading time. Children are encouraged to read aloud and share their thoughts through discussions, to build literacy confidence. Now in its third year, the project has expanded to 17 areas, 75 primary schools, 638 children and their parents.
Based on 99 pupil responses, 75 parent and carer responses and 21 school coordinator responses, this evaluation explores experiences of the programme alongside improved reading for pleasure attitudes and behaviours for children.
Key Findings
After taking part in Our Little Big Book Club...
- 9 in 10 pupils reported increased frequency (88.7%) and enjoyment (87.8%) of reading,
- Over 3 in 4 parents and carers said their children were better at choosing books they wanted to read (78.7%) and enjoy reading more (77.3%),
- 7 in 10 (69.3%) parents told us their child reads more at home, and 3 in 5 (64.9%) said they were more confident supporting their child’s reading at home.
- Nearly all school coordinators agreed that the programme benefitted pupils' enjoyment of reading (95.2%)
- 9 in 10 (90.5%) school coordinators agreed that Our Little Big Book Club helped their school to promote reading for pleasure
The evaluation indicates that Our Little Big Book Club was a resounding success, with positive feedback from school coordinators, parents and pupils.