Research School Network: First Steps in Building a Whole School Culture of Reading RS Associate and author Andy Tharby talks about how he is leading an evidence informed approach to get our students reading.
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First Steps in Building a Whole School Culture of Reading
RS Associate and author Andy Tharby talks about how he is leading an evidence informed approach to get our students reading.
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by Durrington Research School
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Sadly, children today are reading less than they once did. Even more sadly, perhaps, their enjoyment of reading also appears to be declining. In the National Literacy Trust’s most recent UK Annual Literacy Survey (2025), reading for pleasure is at a 20-year low, with only around one in three children and young people (32.7%) saying they enjoy reading in their free time and fewer than one in five (18.7%) reporting daily free-time reading – both the lowest levels since tracking began.
Inevitably, this national picture is reflected to some extent at Durrington. The results of our survey of over 400 Key Stage 3 students and their parents last summer were cause for sober reflection:
Only 13% of students reported reading every day outside school, while around 40% said they did not read at all.
On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being “I really enjoy reading” and 5 being “I dislike reading”), the average response was a decidedly lukewarm 2.6.
Students’ attitudes towards reading, and their reading habits, decline as they move through Key Stage 3.
Students who say they dislike reading told us that distraction is a common barrier.
Parents support reading as homework, particularly when combined with challenges and competitions.
This is one of the key reasons why we launched a new reading strategy at the start of this academic year, entitled Getting Durrington Reading.
Our strategy weaves together four strands, through which we aim to provide support, confidence and encouragement to students across the school, and across all reading profiles:
Strand 1: developing a culture of independent reading
Strand 2: Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) during tutor time
We have kick-started our reading drive with a strong focus on Strand 1. This strand has three interwoven elements, all designed to encourage students to read more. Our strategy piggybacks on existing school initiatives, with an emphasis on students choosing their own reading material and on maximising reading time both in and out of school. This includes:
The creation of a bespoke monitoring system – our reading log – which allows us to track what students are reading, how much they are reading, and how much they enjoy what they read. This information enables us to celebrate success and target support more precisely.
Clear and simple expectations for students, staff and families. All Key Stage 3 students are expected to read at least one complete book each half term (six per year), which is a minimum expectation. Reading is set as homework for at least one hour per week, with students strongly encouraged to read more. Students’ personal reading records are discussed at parents’ evenings, and the number of books logged and pages read appears on school reports.
A wider culture of promotion, support and celebration, led by our brilliant library manager. Recommendations and bespoke support are built into fortnightly library lessons. Reluctant and weaker readers are identified and given one-to-one support in choosing suitable books. Certificates, trophies, tutor-group and year-group reading leaderboards, KAPP points (our in-house rewards system), and reading-focused celebration assemblies all play a part.
In The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads (2017), Daniel Willingham shows that once children can read with proficiency, the best way they can develop their vocabulary and comprehension is by reading more and more. Similarly, the best way they can develop their attitude towards reading and motivation to read is through positive and successful reading experiences.
This is why we want every day to be World Book Day at Durrington!
We are only fourteen weeks into our strategy, so it is too early to measure success in any definitive way. However, we can already share some insights that colleagues in other schools may find interesting.
First, measuring and monitoring independent reading is difficult and we are well aware of the risk of unintended consequences or perverse incentives. However, it is far preferable to the alternative — shrugging our shoulders and hoping for the best. To date, our 960 KS3 students have read 2,545 books between them. We know exactly which books they have read, and this information is freely available to teachers and tutors. We can see that boys read as many books as girls, but tend to choose shorter texts. While the gap between our PP and non-PP students remains stubborn for now, the gap between SEN and non-SEN students is reducing as a result of targeted support. Without the reading log, we simply would not have this information to be able to respond in an informed and sharply focused way.
Next, finishing a book brings a genuine sense of accomplishment and we see this daily in students’ eagerness to tell us when they have completed one! Students seem to enjoy logging books using our Google Form, which takes only seconds to complete. We also ask students to rate each book they finish: remarkably, the average rating is 4.2 out of 5, which far exceeds the 2.6 out of 5 recorded when we ask students whether they enjoy reading in general. It is reassuring to discover that children still enjoy individual books, even if they feel less positive about reading as a concept.
Finally, the real magic happens when students begin to see themselves as readers. For all the data, initiatives and interventions, it is the reading community that matters most. We are seeing more students reading in corridors and talking about books. Some parents tell us their children are reading more than they ever have before.
The next stage of this strategy will focus on further engaging our most reluctant readers, while continuing to find ways to support struggling readers and their families. Plans are also afoot to sustain our independent reading culture across the year, including a readathon and rewards for students who read books linked to curriculum subjects — for example, fiction or non-fiction related to history in the spring term. We are also exploring how best to encourage students to read more challenging novels to support academic high achievement. In the coming months we intend to extend our strategy to our Key Stage 4 students.
If you would like to know more about our reading strategy, please do not hesitate to contact us at Durrington High School. We wish you a peaceful and restful Christmas break.
by Andy Tharby
Research School Associate and Co-Head of English at Durrington High School
If you have found this blog interesting you may be interested in signing up to our “Improving Reading in Secondary Schools” twilight program that will be running over 3 sessions in the summer term lead by Andy himself. You can find out more and sign up here.
