This is how we do it

This Extra Time resource helps Welsh schools set up out-of-school-hours (oshl) reading programmes. The booklet is aimed at primary schools, secondary schools, local education authorities and others involved in providing out-of-school-hours programmes.
This resource is available in English and Welsh.
You may also be interested in Book-it!, which is for schools in England.
Supporting out-of-school-hours learning
This is how we do it
A guide for reading clubs
Copyright © ContinYou 2005
Extra Time describes ContinYou’s
approach to study support, otherwise
known as out-of-school-hours learning
(oshl). This approach aims to:
l ensure that high-quality study
support/oshl activities are within the
reach of every child and young
person in the UK
l provide a wide range of accessible
learning opportunities that extend,
enrich and promote learning beyond
the mainstream classroom.
Extra Time is also the name of a range of
services and resources that support the
strategic development of study
support/oshl activities in schools, local
authorities and communities.
Study support/oshl
Study support/oshl describes the wide
variety of informal learning activities
that young people voluntarily take part
in outside normal school hours. There is
growing evidence that participation in
these activities leads to improvements
in young people’s self-esteem, attitudes
towards learning, achievements,
classroom behaviour and school
attendance.
About Extra Time
Since 1992, ContinYou (formerly
Education Extra) has been the leading
UK not-for-profit organisation
promoting and developing the concept
of study support/oshl. We have
identified three main types of study
support/oshl activities:
l extension activities, such as
homework, study or revision clubs,
which extend curriculum learning by
building on what children learn
during the school day
l enriching activities, such as rocket
clubs or dance clubs, which
complement and expand on what
children learn during the school day,
providing ‘extras’ for which there may
not be space in the formal curriculum
l enabling activities, such as reading
or maths clubs, or volunteering or
mentoring activities, which help to
make the curriculum accessible to
young people and/or enable them to
develop life skills.
Within study support/oshl there is a
clear link between informal learning and
mainstream educational achievement –
it is the effect on children’s attainments
that adds value to traditional extracurricular
activities.
Why is study support/oshl
so important?
Developing study support/oshl activities
brings many benefits to schools and
communities, as well as to individual
pupils. These activities contribute to key
strategies for achieving:
l school improvement and higher
standards
l better behaviour and attendance
l ‘full-service’ extended schooling
l creativity and enrichment
l workforce remodelling
l easier transition between primary and
secondary education
l greater social inclusion
l personalised learning
l ways of building schools of the future
l joined-up children’s services.
ContinYou’s Extra Time resources will
help you not only to develop study
support/oshl activities, but also to
embed them within your school
development plan.
ContinYou publications
ContinYou can offer a wide range of
advice, information and research
publications. Supported by the Welsh
Assembly Government, ContinYou
Cymru has also produced the Out-ofschool-
hours learning training and
resource pack and A code of practice –
out-of school-hours learning. These are
cross-referenced and can be used
together to support the development of
oshl.
For a full list of our resources, contact us
on:
Tel: 020 8709 9900
Fax: 020 8709 9933
This is one of a series of publications
produced by ContinYou on the
following topics:
l Breakfast Clubs Plus
l Sum-it! – maths clubs
l Book-it! – reading clubs
l OwnZone – personalised care and
learning clubs.
Introduction 4
What is a reading club? 5
Why do we need oshl reading clubs 6
What happens at a reading club? 7
Where do we find the members? 8
Who will run your reading club? 9
Partnerships 10
Do we need management support? 11
When and where do we meet? 12
What do we actually do? 13
Activities 21
How do we get the books and resources we need? 25
How do we tell everyone about the club? 27
How do we keep it going? 28
Will we need funding and where can we find it? 29
How will the reading club contribute to the wider learning agenda? 31
Useful information 33
Contents
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
Welcome to This is how we do it,
the Extra Time resource that helps
Welsh schools set up out-of-schoolhours
(oshl) reading programmes.
The booklet is aimed at primary
schools, secondary schools, local
education authorities and others
involved in providing out-of-schoolhours
programmes. Whatever your
role is – headteacher, teacher, librarian,
local authority officer, learning support
assistant, tutor, parent, governor, or
community partner or volunteer – you
will finds lots of advice and help here to
help you establish an oshl reading club.
Each section of the book deals with a
different issue that you will need to
consider when you are planning your
reading club activities, and provides
answers to practical questions. You will
also find activity sheets, case studies
and tips.
Introduction
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 5
There has been a phenomenal growth
in the number of reading clubs for adults
and children in recent years. Most are
centred around the same principles:
l Members read because they enjoy it.
l They choose what they read.
l They regularly talk to each other
about their books.
l They create opportunities to indulge
in their passion.
It is now recognised that reading for
pleasure can be a key to academic
success and improved life chances.
Research has shown that students who
were more enthusiastic about and
engaged in reading, performed better
in tests, and that being a frequent
reader is more of an advantage, on its
own, than wealth or social status
(Reading for change, OECD, 2002).
Reading clubs offer children and young
people opportunities to enjoy reading,
to read for pleasure and to engage with
books and other readers outside the
classroom and the formal curriculum.
‘The best reading environment is one
where there is an expectation of pleasure
in reading, where there is excitement in
talking about books and enjoyment in
being read to.’ Prue Goodwin, in
Creating a reading culture handbook,
Reading Connects
What can a reading club
achieve?
Research has shown that book clubs
do work and do achieve positive
benefits for their members.
‘There were significant improvements
in the reading skills of lower-ability
members in particular – 80% of the
Year 7 pupils improved their reading
ages compared with only 39% of
non-members’
Reading clubs report, Education
Extra, 2003
A successful reading club:
l focuses on reading for pleasure and
enjoyment
l enables children to see themselves as
readers
l widens children’s reading range and
capacity
l improves their reading skills
l creates committed, keen, lifelong
readers
l gives children confidence in their own
reading choices
l enables children to take a risk with
their reading
What is a reading club?
l celebrates reading as an end in itself
l motivates readers
l helps create a reading culture within
schools or other settings
l fosters a positive image for reading
and for libraries
l encourages imagination, free
thinking, reflection and self-expression
l changes the perception of reading
from a solitary, even ‘geeky’, pastime
into a sociable and popular activity to
enjoy with others
l enables children to take control of
their own learning.
As an out-of-school-hours learning
activity, a reading club can extend the
reading experience beyond the
requirements of the curriculum, can
enrich the lives of young people
through encounters with the wealth
and variety of experiences to be found
in the world of books, and can enable
young readers to develop a lifelong
reading habit and enjoyment of books.
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
Some people might ask don’t we
already do enough in the classroom?
It’s the fact that reading clubs are not
classroom-based or curriculum-led that
make them so effective and valuable.
A reading club rescues reading from
being associated with literacy or ‘work’.
As Prue Goodwin says, it’s ‘an
assessment-free zone’, where reading is
seen as ‘a life enhancer, not just a life
skill’. (Creating a reading culture
handbook, Reading Connects)
The emphasis is on reading for pleasure
– and valuing reading as an end in itself.
Members choose to attend and choose
what they read, which fosters the
proven link between enjoying learning
and achievement. Readers will learn to
choose freely what they want to read
and they have a chance to share their
reading choices with others.
Clubs in libraries, childcare settings and
other community venues take reading
out of the classroom. Many clubs also
offer readers a chance to interact with
an adult who is passionate about
reading but who is not their teacher.
For higher ability readers, clubs offer
opportunities to:
l explore a wider range of challenging
books and authors
Why do we need oshl reading clubs?
l indulge their own reading passions
l encourage and enthuse other readers.
For reluctant readers, clubs offer a
chance to:
l encounter reading in a more relaxed
and informal setting
l realise that reading is about
enjoyment, not achievement, free
choice, not compulsion
l mix with pupils who have a wider
range of abilities and ages
l receive the support of non-teaching
adults such as librarians or volunteers.
For readers who find reading difficult,
the club’s activities can:
l offer different ways of engaging with
books
l foster respect for everyone’s
individual reading styles and choices
l be motivating as the members hear
other readers talk about books
l provide support from a community of
reading adults and peers.
6
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 7
Reading clubs and groups make reading
sociable. Though reading is often a
private, solitary activity, it can also be a
shared, communal pleasure. At reading
groups of all kinds, readers come
together regularly to talk about their
reading, to share their experiences with
books, to argue and to agree.
The secret of a successful club is to have
a wide variety of activities within a
regular framework – book discussions,
listening to books, quizzes and
competitions, creating displays,
meeting authors and so on.
‘It is clear that reading clubs that cater for
all interests are more inclusive than
special interest clubs. They cater for all
abilities, for both boys and girls, and can
easily accommodate a wide range of
themes that appeal to all pupils.’
Reading clubs report, Education Extra,
2003
What sorts of reading clubs
already exist?
Many schools run reading clubs, often
after school or during holidays, but also
as part of a breakfast club, during
lunchtime or during school holidays.
A teacher may run these, but many are
supported by other school staff, pupils
and older students.
What happens at a reading club?
Many local libraries run reading clubs or
reading groups for children and young
people – usually after school or on
Saturdays. Their aims and activities are
very similar to those of school clubs – to
bring readers and books together and
to encourage reading for pleasure.
Some authorities run Orange
Chatterbooks groups. (These are a
partnership between Orange and public
libraries across the UK, formed to create
and support reading groups for 4 to 12
year olds.) A specially trained local
librarian leads the groups, and
members receive Chatterbooks goody
bags. There are plans to develop a
bilingual element to Chatterbooks for
Wales. Ask your local children’s librarian
for more details or look at The Reading
Agency’s website at
www.readingagency.org.uk .
An after-school club at a childcare
setting or a holiday playscheme could
also run a reading club as a valuable
and enjoyable activity for children in
their care. A reading club would also be
a natural extension for a homework
club to provide.
There is no one model for a successful
club. Each one has its own characteristics.
This guide will help you decide what
sort of club you want yours to be, offer
some advice on how to get it going,
and suggest some activities to do.
Spread throughout this guide are
‘This is how we do it…’ case studies
from reading clubs in Wales, which
share their experiences and tips.
This is how we do it…
Every book is an adventure, so the
young people who joined our
teenage reading group decided to
call it ‘The Adventure Group’. They
come to the library every month to
talk books (and eat chocolate!). They
write up comments about the books
on the library computers, then
display them in the teenage section.
They put ‘recommended reads’
stickers on library books they’ve
enjoyed, and they’ve been on visits –
the local BBC studios were a
highlight. At the Christmas party,
every member brought a friend to
introduce them to the library and the
group. We sell the drinks and
chocolate – they prefer to pay a few
pence for it than be given freebies
like younger children!
Tip
l Giving a reading club a name, like
‘The Adventure Group’ can be an
attractive pull for young readers to
join up.
Local library assistant
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
The only way of knowing whether
anyone is interested in a reading club is
to ask them. Ask parents, families and
school colleagues to find out what they
think of your initial ideas and whether
they have any ideas of their own.
Ask some of the keenest children to
devise a short survey of their year group.
Use a suggestion box or a graffiti wall to
collect ideas and opinions. Try an online
or text survey with older children.
Your club will be more successful if
potential members have a say in its
planning. This will give them a sense of
ownership and the club can cater for a
wider variety of interests and
expectations.
By asking around, you will also find out
if there’s a specific group of youngsters
you’d especially like to encourage to
join, or if there are specific outcomes
you’d like to achieve.
By consulting colleagues you may spark
their interest in helping you run the
club or offering specific activities
occasionally.
Where do we find the members?
Should we target
potential members?
Ask yourself whether you are offering
the club to a specific year or age group?
Many secondary schools, for example,
have Year 7 reading clubs. If so, target
everyone in that year/age group with
announcements in registration classes
and assemblies, and posters in
prominent places. If you have time,
send personal invitations to everyone –
make it feel a privilege to become a
member.
If you plan a Year 7 group, consider
visiting local primary schools during the
previous summer term, or work with
the local library to invite children who
take part in the national Summer
Reading Challenge. Follow up in
September with more publicity and
invitations. You may also want to offer
some ‘taster’ sessions for the Year 6
pupils. Such a club will then also be a
source of support to aid transition from
primary to secondary school. (See From
primary to secondary: moving on: out-ofschool-
hours learning and transition,
ContinYou Cymru, 2005).
Mixed-age clubs can be very successful
as children mix with new friends outside
their year or peer group. In small
schools, reading clubs will inevitably be
mixed age, though mixing children
from Key Stage 1 and 2 could be
challenging because of the wide
difference in reading skills. Try choosing
to read books by authors who write for
a wide age range, or use picture books
suitable for a wider and older age
range. Plan activities where the actual
reading material is a personal choice,
but the activity is suitable no matter
what has been read. On pages 13–20
you will find lots of suggestions for
activities.
How about linking up with an existing
general oshl club that your pupils
attend and offering to run a book club
with them once a week or once a
fortnight? You would have a ready
cohort of members, a venue and adult
help.
Don’t try to force anyone to attend – it’s
not a case of ‘It’ll be good for them’.
Membership should be voluntary and
members need to choose to belong
rather than feel singled out as needing
extra help. If you do feel an individual
would enjoy the club and benefit from
it, use peer power and suggestions.
Encouraging reluctant readers to attend
can have great results. The most
powerful tool will be an already
successful club that people will want to
join. Design some activities around the
needs of a specific group, but allow
anyone to take part. Give extra
encouragement to children you think
may not attend.
Consider the needs of children with
special needs – both their physical
access to the club’s venue and activities,
and their learning abilities. Activities will
need to be inclusive. Young readers
with dyslexia or learning difficulties can
enjoy the club’s more relaxed attitude
towards reading and its emphasis on
reading for pleasure. Being in the
company of other keen readers will
boost their motivation to read despite
their own difficulties.
8
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 9
If you can, try not to do it on your own.
One person – often a teacher or school
librarian or club leader – will need to be
the co-ordinator, overseeing the
activities, making sure the club meets its
objectives, arranging staffing and
premises, finding funding and
developing partnerships. Increasingly,
however, other adults including
classroom assistants, learning mentors
and tutors are taking such
responsibilities in partnership with
teachers or librarians.
The activities could be run by a range of
people. This will give variety within the
club’s programme. Look at the next
section on partnerships for ideas about
who could help.
Developing a reading culture, via the
reading club, means involving as many
people as possible, so try and get nonteaching
staff, school librarians, parents
and governors involved. You could ask
them to do a specific task to help the
club in some way.
‘The essential ingredient, at the heart of
the reading environment, is not the
physical surroundings, but the teacher,
the librarian, the willing school helper, the
supportive older pupil. People supply the
‘space’, whether physically or
Who will run your reading club?
metaphorically, where young readers
learn what it means to be literate.’
Prue Goodwin, in Creating a reading
culture handbook, Reading Connects
Most successful clubs have a core of one
or two organisers and a wider network
of partners who provide specialist
support and input.
Give special responsibilities to members
to encourage them to be involved in
the club – choosing the books, setting
up activities, welcoming guests, finding
new members, creating publicity
materials. Find out what members
expect when they join the club. Invite
the new members to come up with a
name for the club – and don’t be afraid
to change it every now and then if it will
attract new members.
Always make sure you have arrangements
if key staff are off sick – perhaps a list of
parents or other volunteers who could
step in at short notice. Have a file of
‘quick choice’ activities they could use
without preparation.
Remember to work within your school’s
or organisation’s security, health and
safety and child protection policies
when inviting outside people to help
with the club.
Recognise commitment
Acknowledge and value everyone’s
contribution to the club. Will you need
to offer payment or time off in lieu to
some staff or recognise their
contribution in some other way? Could
accreditations for professional
development, credits for qualifications
or even house merit points be awarded
to staff and older pupils? Discuss these
ideas with your headteacher or senior
staff.
This is how we do it…
Our Story Club for Nursery and Key
Stage 1 is run by a keen parent and a
rota of volunteers. We meet every
month after school to listen to stories
read aloud and to play some games.
The parents come with the children,
and the local Cylch Meithrin also join
in. Some of our story readers are
from the local community – friends of
the school. One parent is a fireman
and he comes in his uniform.
We’re a small bilingual school, so we
have stories in both languages. The
teachers don’t have to do anything –
it’s all done by the parents (they even
have a rota for the snacks).
We visit the local library about three
times a year for a storytime there, and
families can borrow the school’s
storysacks after a session to take home
and enjoy. It’s a wonderful chance for
the children to share stories with each
other and with their parents.
Tip
l In the context of particular books
your members are reading (for
example, ones that feature people
such as the fireman in this case
study), invite other people in your
local community with roles or jobs
that would interest the young
people.
Village primary head
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
To help sustain and develop your club,
you will need to create effective
partnerships. This is true whether your
club is within or outside school
provision. Partnerships will widen the
opportunities available to your
members and staff – they offer a chance
to work with resources not normally
available or to draw on expert skills and
knowledge. Partnerships will help you
develop links with the local community
and give staff a chance to develop new
skills. Partners themselves will benefit by
gaining new skills, gaining a higher
profile within the school and
encouraging use of the community
service.
Involving others will also lighten the
load on the club leader or co-ordinator
in thinking about, and running, activities.
Partnerships might include:
l schools – individually or in clusters
l the local library
l the Schools Library Service
l literacy advisory teachers and
athrawon bro
l bookshops
l parents/grandparents – do they have
special interests or skills that might
help?
l other family members
Partnerships
l older children or young people
l students
l organisations such as the Urdd,
Young Farmers, scouts and guides,
youth service, Mentrau Iaith or arts
organisations
l local businesses – even if they can’t
offer funding, they may be able to
offer in-kind support – goods, free use
of facilities or equipment, subsidised
transport, mentors, or visitors to talk
about books/tell stories.
By involving older young people and
adults, your members will see role
models from a variety of backgrounds.
Support for the club from an interested
adult who is seen to enjoy reading will
help enormously.
Keep in regular contact with your
partners – plan activities together,
making sure you share the same
objectives. Review progress regularly
and don’t be afraid to amend or even
end a partnership if it isn’t working.
Invite your partners to events and make
sure they are credited in any press
releases or publicity materials.
When inviting a partner to get involved
with your club, make it clear to them
how your members will benefit and
how the partner will benefit.
Acknowledging support
For most partners and volunteers,
seeing their contribution genuinely
valued and acknowledged will be
reward enough and will keep them
involved. Things like thank-you letters
and messages, invitations to events and
celebrations, and acknowledgement in
press publicity cost very little, but are
always appreciated.
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 11
The support and commitment of your
headteacher, senior management team,
governors, head of service or
organisation will be important to your
club’s long-term success. Ask for help
with finding funding, embedding the
club in the school’s or organisation’s
development planning, and promoting
the club with parents, families, the
wider community and partners.
Reading clubs lead to improvements in
children’s and young people’s reading
skills, their commitment to school, their
self-esteem, their behaviour and their
love of learning and lifelong learning –
make sure your management knows
this.
If you need actual research evidence,
look at the results of the Year 7 Reading
Clubs project run by Education Extra
(now ContinYou) published in Reading
clubs report – you can download it from
www.continyou.org.uk .
Get senior staff and other volunteers
involved in some way – ask them to
come in and talk about their own
reading experiences; ask them what
they’re currently reading, and run a
competition to see if club members can
guess who’s reading what. If you have
visitors to the club, make sure the
managers know about the visit.
Do we need management support?
You will find help and support on all
aspects of managing an oshl club in the
new Welsh Code of practice – out-ofschool-
hours learning, which is available
from ContinYou Cymru.
This is how we do it…
Our club’s main aims are to get the
young people reading for pleasure
and enjoyment and to help them
explore the world of books. When I
came to this school library, the group
already existed but tended to focus
everything on shadowing book
awards. We used the Big Read idea
and Year 11s would read the Top 21
books from that. I felt I wanted to
bring a bit more variety in, so we now
also have a theme per term – at the
moment it’s fantasy and science
fiction – and it’s very popular. Last
term’s historical fiction was a bit more
of a challenge. We will shadow the
Carnegie Medal, because you really
feel part of that – there’s an excellent
interactive website. We had a party at
the end of the summer term last year
to celebrate the medal winner and
invited governors and other key
people, so that we could promote the
club to them.
We meet every week and I find they
need something small to do as well as
talk about their reading – so we write
very short readers’ comments, design
posters to promote books, and create
new characters for books, for example.
All the members get merit points for
commitment and effort in the club. I
plan every session (otherwise there’d be
chaos or boredom) and I do read all the
books myself – that’s essential if you’re
going to chat with the members about
books and suggest new ones for them
to read. We don’t have exclusive
reading club stock – we use the school
library’s stock – but club members do
get first pick of new books – it’s one of
the perks! We don’t have a budget – but
I run two book-selling schemes and
make good commission, which helps
with buying new books for the school
library.
Though I take the lead in running the
club, I get good support from staff in
the English department – one or two
usually attend the meetings and they
promote the club to their classes.
They’ll often identify someone who
would benefit from being a member.
I have seen the members develop –
particularly in their confidence as
readers – what they choose to read
and how they talk about it. We’ve got
some special needs members and it’s
great that the older members still
come along – they support the
younger ones and are very powerful
role models.
Tips
l Plan ahead – for the term and for
each session. Know what you want
to achieve.
l Keep an open mind and be flexible
within the framework of your plan
for the session – it’s about
enjoyment, not hard work.
l Make sure the members feel special.
Secondary school library assistant
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
Decide when you want to meet – it will
influence what you do and who can
attend.
l A breakfast club before school?
Time is very limited but you could run
short, high-impact activities.
l At lunchtime? Could children eat a
packed lunch while listening to a
book being read aloud or while
discussing a book, and then move on
to other activities once they’ve eaten?
Could members be given passes to
have an early school lunch?
l After school? There’s less time
pressure at this time, but transport
may be an issue for many. Could you
negotiate with the local transport
service or find community transport?
Would the local youth service or
volunteer parents be able to help?
Some children might also be involved
in other after-school activities.
l Could your reading club be
incorporated with an existing afterschool,
breakfast or homework
club?
l What about Saturdays? Staffing may
be more of a problem at weekends –
but a partnership with a community
service such as the library, museum or
sports centre is worth considering.
l Holiday time? Many short-term
holiday time reading clubs have
worked well, especially if they have a
specific goal. Again a local partnership
may work – a holiday play scheme or
day care setting, for example.
Short-term clubs are often less daunting
for young people, especially for
reluctant readers. It helps them to know
that they only need to commit to
something for a few weeks and not the
whole year. If it’s successful, repeat it for
another short block of time.
How long each session or meeting lasts
depends on the time of day and the
number or range of activities you plan.
It’s better to keep it short and lively than
to try and stretch it out and risk having
bored members who will stop attending.
Ask the members what they think.
Where will we meet?
l If you meet within the school, try not
to use a regular classroom. If you have
to, move the furniture round.
l The school library would be ideal if it’s
big enough. Close the library to other
pupils during the meeting period or
you will be disrupted.
Non-members may be so keen to
know what goes on behind the closed
doors that they ask to join!
When and where do we meet?
l In warm weather, how about holding
a meeting outdoors?
l Your local library may be happy to
host a club after school, on a Saturday
or in holiday time. Similarly a local
museum, arts centre or bookshop
might also be interested.
l Consider local community centres or
church halls/chapels or vestries.
To keep things fresh, consider using a
different location occasionally. Go on a
visit or use special facilities such as an
ICT room or drama room.
You will need plenty of comfortable
seating, in an informal layout if possible.
You may also need:
l facilities for equipment such as CD
players
l computer access for searching book
and author websites
l storage for the club’s books and
resources
l a prominent noticeboard to publicise
the club’s meetings and activities.
This is how we do it…
One of the best things about our
Junior Bookworms club is that the
children come from three different
local schools, so they meet new
friends within their community. One
of the schools is a Welsh-medium
school and, as this group reads
English books, parents find it helps
support their English reading skills.
The members are all aged between
7 and 11 and we meet every other
week for an hour after school in the
local library. We spend about four
sessions on each book or theme – we
read and discuss the books together,
then do quizzes, competitions, and
activities based on the books. We all
sit round a big table and we provide
free refreshments.
Tip
l Forming a club with pupils from
several schools can help tap into a
wider base of resources, volunteers
and ideas.
Local library assistant
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The whole purpose of your reading club
is to get children and young people
reading and talking about books. The
key to success is to offer a variety of
activities and opportunities to
encourage engagement with books and
other readers – and to involve the
members in planning your programme.
Most of the actual reading will happen
between club sessions – but
occasionally you might want to offer
some time for everyone to just sit and
read. Many readers find it relaxing and
enjoyable to do so during or after a
busy school day. For older readers, with
hours of coursework or homework to
complete, reading time may be very
limited.
To make the most of the sociable aspect
of belonging to a reading club,
however, you will need to offer some
planned activities. Some will be for the
whole group to do together, others may
be for smaller groups or pairs, and some
for individuals.
What do we actually do?
Choice and variety
l Offer choice – in what to read and
what to do. It’s what makes the
club different to the classroom.
l Let the members decide what they
want to do – perhaps over a term, a
number of weeks or a holiday
period – so that everyone has a
chance to do an activity they have
suggested.
l Run a good variety of activities to
keep everyone interested and
enjoying it.
l Design your programme so that it
is flexible enough to enable new
members to join at any time and so
that they can quickly catch on to
what’s happening.
l Consider whether everyone can be
involved in every activity or
whether you will need to
differentiate a little. Try suggesting
extension activities to the more
able members. However, it’s
important to try and make sure that
no one feels unable to participate in
an activity.
l You don’t have to come up with a
new activity every time. Get
feedback from the members and
repeat popular activities.
l Try introducing separate sessions
for boys and for girls.
l Be organised, in advance, with
books and any other equipment or
help you need.
Getting going
A general chat about how, why and
where we read is a good way to start off
the first meeting or to involve new
members. It gets everyone talking
about reading and helps readers reflect
on their own reading experiences.
l Use the ‘Dear reader’ question cards
in this kit.
l Ask each member to take a card and
ask the question to the person sitting
next to them.
l You could also ask a question to the
whole group and have a wider
discussion.
l Ask everyone to be as honest as they
can and not to feel shy or silly about
their answers – reinforce the club’s
ethos that everyone is a reader and
everyone’s reading is valued.
Getting inside the covers
Chat about books
Get everyone talking about the books
they’re reading or have just finished. It’s
one of the most effective ways of
encouraging reading for pleasure –
word-of-mouth recommendation is by
far the most powerful marketing tool for
books. You may be all reading different
books, or focusing on one book or one
author.
Lead a book discussion
l Use the general questions in ‘Book
chatting’ on page 21 to get things
going or to bring a discussion back on
course if you go off at a tangent.
l Try to ask open questions or throw in
a statement with which members will
probably disagree – then debate!
l The time spent discussing will depend
on the age of the readers and on the
book in question. Some wonderful
books are great reads but are very
hard to discuss.
l You may get a better discussion with
a book that some readers didn’t like.
l If you’ve all read different books, ask
members to champion their books
and try to ‘sell’ them to the group.
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
Author of the month
Focus on one author over several
meetings to give members a chance to
read several books. Ask members to find
out information about the author’s life
from books or websites. Write to or
email the author with feedback about
the books (don’t expect an answer –
but many authors will reply). See the
‘Useful contacts’ section for contact
details.
Hot seat
Choose a character from a book familiar
to everyone. Nominate a member to
adopt the character’s persona and
encourage the other members to ask
questions about events in the book or
how the character has behaved. This is
a great way of encouraging readers to
engage with a character or to look at
different viewpoints within a book.
Meet the books
This is one way of helping you decide
which books you want to read as a
group and to encourage readers to take
a risk with books. Collect together
about twenty books across the whole
range. Try to include books that are
unfamiliar to your members, and books
with unusual covers. Set the books out
in front of the members and chat about
the covers and the blurbs. Discuss
which ones appeal to them and why.
Which ones don’t they fancy and why?
Who are the publishers trying to attract
to read the book?
Quick choice
This will get you talking about how
people choose books and about
prejudices about books. Send everyone
to the shelves to choose three books:
one they really fancy reading
themselves, one that will be a challenge
for them and one that they would never
normally touch with a barge pole. They
must choose quickly – allow just a few
minutes. Come back together and chat
about what everyone chose and why.
Tasters
Collect together about ten varied
books. Give each member two pieces of
paper. Ask them to draw a positive mark
on one (a tick, smiley face or a thumbsup)
and a negative on the other (a
cross, sad face or thumbs-down). You,
or a willing volunteer, read aloud the
first ten lines of a book and the first ten
lines of page 40. The group then votes
by using the voting cards: is the book a
winner or not? Count up the votes to
see which ones are most popular.
Bookmarking
Older readers may find bookmarking
useful to help them focus on their
reading experience and to prompt
them in a book discussion. It works very
well when several people are reading
the same book. Photocopy the
Bookmarking chart on page 24 in this
pack and slice each sheet into the four
bookmarks as shown. Give a set to each
reader. As you read a book, place the
bookmarks in the appropriate places
and write a few comments on them.
Leave them in their places in the book.
Bring the book with its bookmarks to
the group discussion. Compare where
everyone placed them and the
comments that each person made.
Book selection
Speak to the local children’s librarian or
your school librarian to see whether
club members could be involved in
choosing books for the library’s stock.
The librarian could bring in an approval
collection of books and talk about how
books are chosen for stock. Club
members could then look through the
collection and discuss the different
books. Set a maximum amount to
spend – the club members may have to
make difficult choices in order to
provide a good range of books. Their
recommendations should then be
purchased for the library. Special labels
could be put inside the books to say
they’ve been chosen by the club
members. It would give the young
readers a feeling of ownership of the
stock in the library and would be a
powerful peer recommendation to
other readers. It would also be the sort
of activity your local press might be
interested in covering.
‘The biggest success in many [clubs] took place
when members found they could enjoy books, and take
pleasure in them, without being faced with the prospect
of having to justify their choices’
(Reading clubs report, Education Extra, 2003)
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Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 15
Writing about books
Within a reading club, the aim of writing
about books is to get other people to
read them, not to evaluate their literary
merit. Be careful when you ask members
to write about the books they’ve read –
beware the killer book review!
This research showed that writing book
reviews was one of the few activities
that didn’t work.
Readers’ comments
Rather than book reviews, help your
members to record readers’ comments
– their own or those of other readers.
Comments are short, honest statements
about a book and how the reader has
reacted to it. They are easy to use in a
display, in newsletters or on websites, and
are more accessible to less fluent writers.
Ask your members to imagine they are
telling their best friends about the
books they’ve just read. There’s no need
to summarise the plots and it makes no
difference whether they enjoyed or
hated the books – they needn’t be
afraid to say if they didn’t like the books.
Three sentences are often enough: one
to say something about the book’s main
theme or setting; one about the
reader’s experience as they read it; and
one to give a tip to the next reader.
There’s no need to comment on the
quality of the book – ‘It was really
good/brilliant/exciting/boring’ doesn’t
tell you much! Here are two examples
of useful readers’ comments.
‘Half in this world, half in a fantasy
country, it’s full of weird creatures and
impossible events. It’s the longest book
I’ve ever read and enjoyed. The beginning
is a bit boring but keep going – the bit on
page 43 is brilliant!’
‘It’s set in a school a bit like this one, but
with an even more crazy PE teacher. My
brother told me he hated this book so I
just had to read it. The cover is a bit silly –
just ignore it and go for the story.’
Create some small (postcard size) blank
templates to limit how much they can
write. Make templates to fit in with the
theme of what you’re reading or
whatever your end display will be. Pop
one inside each book so that the readers
can jot their thoughts down as they
read or as soon as they’ve finished.
Don’t force anyone to write comments.
One or two per member each term will
still give you a good collection. Jot
down comments made by different
readers about a book during a general
discussion, then type them out. Using
the comments in displays will show that
everyone’s opinion is valued – and that
it’s OK not to like a book.
Bringing in the wide world
of books
Author visits and contacting authors
Meeting and speaking to a published
author is an unforgettable experience
for young readers. It would be a
highlight of your club’s year. As well as
meeting the club members, you might
want to ask the writer to speak to other
classes or to hold a workshop for a
group of pupils.
Your local children’s librarian or Schools
Library Service will have many contacts
with authors – ask who they suggest
and whether they can give you email
addresses or phone numbers. Some
authors give contact details on their
websites. Academi (www.academi.org)
lists many writers from Wales. There are
also agencies such as Speaking of Books
that arrange author visits to schools
(Tel: 020 8692 4704).
Writers are professional people and
should be paid for working in your club.
Expect to pay anything between £150
and £350 for a whole day. Financial
support is available from Academi’s
Writers on Tour scheme (see ‘Useful
contacts’ section) – they will help to pay
a writer’s fee and expenses.
Your library service may already be
arranging author visits to the area – ask
if a writer would be willing to visit your
club for an hour or so. The costs would
be much lower and there would be less
organising for you to do.
Tips for welcoming authors in to your
club:
l Make the most of the day, but
negotiate carefully with the author
about how much they are willing to
do.
l Offer to arrange overnight
accommodation if necessary.
l Make sure your headteacher/ manager
knows what you’re planning, and
look after your visitor well.
l Make sure they are expected at
reception, or are met at a station and
transported to your venue.
l Make sure your visitor is given
refreshments.
l Never expect an author to supervise a
group of children alone. They are not
supply teachers and it would
contravene your child protection
policy.
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
l Escort your author throughout the
day (unless they ask for some quiet
time alone).
l Try and get some of the author’s
books to sell on the day (on a sale-orreturn
basis through a local bookshop
or direct from the publishers). Ask the
author whether they are happy to
sign books. Don’t forget to tell your
members to bring money with them.
l Encourage the children to read as
many of the writer’s books as possible
before the visit. Talk about the books
with them and look at the author’s
website.
l Don’t forget to get the members to
write or email to say thank you for the
visit. Authors love getting letters from
their young readers.
Twinning with other clubs
Find out from your county literacy
advisory teachers or library service
whether there are other reading clubs in
your area. Consider twinning and
holding a joint meeting at a community
venue, or visit each other’s settings.
Keep in touch by email or through a
website. Share readers’ comments or
challenge each other to quizzes. Find
out what activities go down well in their
clubs and use them yourselves.
Shadowing
There are dozens of different children’s
book awards – and they are a great way
of keeping bang up to date with the
best new books each year. The most
successful shadowing scheme follows
the Carnegie Medal (for fiction) and
Kate Greenaway Award (for illustration),
which are awarded by the Chartered
Institute of Library and Information
Professionals (CILIP), which is the
professional body for librarians. The
short list and winners are chosen by
children’s librarians, but young people
can also choose their unofficial winner
by voting on the Carnegie Greenaway
website. The website is full of ideas for
activities and young readers can post
reviews and comments about the shortlisted
books. Generally, the fiction on
Carnegie short lists is most suited to
secondary level. The picture books on
the Greenaway list can be enjoyed by a
wider age range – older readers will
enjoy the chance to read picture books
too and you can have very lively
discussions about them. Perhaps you
could meet up with a club or class of
younger children to look at the books.
You could organise your own
shadowing of any award short list, of
course – such as Whitbread, Guardian,
Nestlé Smarties, Torchlight or Book
Trust’s Teenage Book Prize. Wales’ own
children’s book award is the Tir na n’Og
Award for the best Welsh and English
language books from Wales. It is
organised by the Welsh Books Council.
Find out whether there are any local
book awards you can get involved with
– ask your children’s librarian.
Most awards have websites – many are
listed by the National Literacy Trust at
www.literacytrust.org.uk/database/
awards.html. Find the short list, get
hold of the books, give them to the
readers and then run discussions and
activities around them. Hold a final
judging session and vote for your
winner. When the ‘official’ award is
announced, compare this with your
results – did your members choose the
same books?
Local and national book quizzes
and competitions
There are several book quizzes or
competitions for schools in Wales –
formats vary but they all aim to get
children and young people reading
good books. Find out what’s going on
locally from your local children’s
librarian or Schools Library Service, and
whether the club can compete. The
Welsh Books Council runs both a Welsh
language and an English language book
competition annually.
Taking part in a competition can help to
focus the club’s activities. Involve all the
members in the preparation, even if
only a few will be in the actual team.
Use quiz book lists to help choose good
books for the club or school library – the
organisers will have chosen carefully.
Talks about reading by visitors
Invite other staff, older children,
parents, governors, librarians or
community figures to visit the club and
talk about their own reading and the
books they enjoy. They could read
aloud or bring along books they read as
a young person. Older pupils from
secondary schools may be able to use
such visits for community service credit.
They would also be effective role models
and give positive messages about
reading as a ‘cool’ activity for teenagers.
Children’s Book Week
The first full week of October is
Children’s Book Week in Britain, and
many libraries and schools celebrate the
week by organising events and
activities. Find out whether you can go
to meet an author at your local library
or whether you can invite an author in
to school. Could the club take a lead
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and host a party, run competitions, and
do special assemblies that week?
Summer Reading Challenge
The national Summer Reading
Challenge in local libraries across the UK
makes a proven impact on children’s
reading skills and motivation. It
emphasises reading for pleasure and
bridges the long summer holiday when
many children might not otherwise
read. The Challenge is free to join, and
it encourages children to visit their
library regularly over the summer.
They are rewarded with certificates and
medals to recognise their effort and
commitment. Children are free to read
whatever library books they want, at
any level, in Welsh or English. Listening
to audiobooks or being read to also
counts. Many librarians visit their local
schools and childcare settings during
the summer term to promote the
scheme, and again in the autumn to
present the rewards. They appreciate
the support of schools in actively
encouraging the children to take part,
and particularly in emphasising the
benefits of the scheme to parents. Some
schools offer their own merit points or
rewards to children who take part – this
additional incentive is often the key to
getting some children involved.
This is how we do it…
The best sessions are those where
the readers just take off into a
discussion about books – often
unplanned and sparked off by a
comment from one of us. We’re very
informal – I don’t do much detailed
planning (very different to my lesson
planning!) because I want to keep
the club flexible so that it responds
to the members’ passions and
enthusiasms. We have members
from Year 7 to the sixth form and at
least twenty people at every weekly
lunchtime session. We meet in the
school library and there are usually
three members of staff there – a
Welsh teacher, and a couple of
English teachers. I would prefer to
run it as an after-school club, as we
wouldn’t be so pressured for time or
have competition from other
activities, but this is a rural area and
most pupils are bussed home. We
use the daily bulletin and word of
mouth to publicise – the members
went round registration classes to tell
everyone about the club – and we
produce posters and plaster them
around school for special events.
Some of our best sessions are either
when we’ve all read the same book or
when we spend the whole lunchtime
just reading quietly – the members
really enjoy the time out. They love
quizzes – I get most of them off the
web. We book the IT room occasionally
for everyone to take part. We’ve been
successful with entering teams to
national book quizzes – everyone helps
to prepare the team by asking them
questions and drilling them! We’ve
been on cinema trips to see films of
books – and we always have a very lively
session the following week to discuss
which was best – book or film.
We’ve done big second-hand book sales
to raise money for Book-Aid and for
club funds, and we shadow the
Carnegie Medal every year and have
great debates and discussion – we’ve
yet to agree with the official winner. A
local chain bookseller has also sent us
proof copies and we’ve written reviews
to display in the shop. One summer
term we invited local feeder primaries to
bring interested Year 6 children up to
spend the afternoon with the club as a
transition project. We played book
games and told them all about the club.
We get good support from the school
management, but aren’t required to
monitor – the fact that the club exists
and has a lot of members is proof of
its success in getting young people
reading and enjoying books.
Tips
l Don’t try and do it on your own –
two or three adults to help is ideal.
l Don’t make it too organised or
formal – follow the lead of the
members.
l Be prepared to read lots of books
so that you can chat with the
members – and never pretend to
have read something if you haven’t
– you’ll be found out!
Secondary English teacher
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
Visits
How about an outing to see the film of
a book, or a trip to the theatre to see a
book on stage? You might have an
author living locally who writes about
your area, or a book may have been
given a local setting – visit it to see if
you can spot landmarks or soak up the
place’s atmosphere.
Readathon
Take part in the National Readathon
fundraising challenge and raise money
for good causes while indulging in a
favourite pastime! Visit
www.readathon.org for details.
Games and activities
Quizzes
Look at author and book websites for
quizzes and competitions based on
books. Get the members to make up
quizzes for the club – use everyone’s
knowledge of their favourite books and
authors. Save copies of all the questions
and answers – they’ll come in useful in
future years.
Book raffles
These are popular and help put more
books into children’s hands. Buy
discounted books, ask for donations of
books in excellent condition or ask
publishers for proof copies (perhaps in
exchange for some feedback from the
readers). Give a free raffle ticket to
everyone who attends a session – one
lucky ticket wins a book to keep. Run a
big raffle for Christmas or World Book
Day and invite a visitor in to present the
prizes. Get the members to design
special ‘book plates’ to stick inside the
prize books.
Book swap
Have a book swap table or box where
members can swap books they no
longer want.
Review of the year
At the end of the year, have a session
looking back at all the books you’ve
been reading over the year. Come up
with the club’s own book awards – make
up some categories, ask for nominations,
then let everyone vote. Find your club’s
Surprise of the Year, Flop of the Year,
Most Read Book, Best Book Jacket, and
Overall Book of the Year. Create a
display to exhibit the results.
Magazines
Use magazines to keep up with the
children’s book world. They often have
ideas for activities, interviews with
authors, and plenty of reviews and news
about awards and new initiatives.
Books for Keeps and Carousel are aimed
at adults, whilst TbK, BOOX, Teen Titles
and Bawd are for children and young
people.
Bookselling
Some reading club organisers also run
bookselling clubs using one of the
commercial schemes such as the Welsh
Books Council’s Sbondonics, or those
run by Scholastic or the Book People.
They give children an opportunity to
buy and own books, and can raise funds
or provide free books for the club.
Using websites
There are hundreds of websites related
to books for children and young people
(see the ‘Useful contacts’ section). Use
computers in the school library or ICT
room, or at the local library. Look at
authors’ and publishers’ own websites.
Take part in online forums or
discussions, shadowing schemes or
quizzes. Harness the power of ICT to
promote books and reading.
Listen to audiobooks
If members bring packed lunches to the
club, why not put a CD on and listen as
you eat? If some members have
difficulties accessing print, have audio
versions of books available so that they
are included in discussions and
activities. Full text audio books are
better than abridged versions – some
readers may enjoy following the printed
text as they listen too.
Reading aloud
Most people like listening to someone
read aloud, giving a taste of a book or
reading a whole short story or picture
book. How about reading poetry aloud,
or reading plays – taking a character
each? Invite visitors in to read aloud
from some of their favourite books and
to talk about their choices.
Book charades or drawing
This is always popular and needs little
preparation. Ask everyone present to
write a book title or the name of a
character on a slip of paper, put them in
a bag or box, and draw one out in turn.
Either act out the charade or do a
drawing (blindfold or with the paper on
your head) to see who can guess
correctly. Award points or small prizes
(such as sweets or bookmarks).
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Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 19
Wrapped-up reading
Wrap up a selection of books in brown
paper or gift wrap and let everyone
have a lucky dip. Ask everyone to at
least taste the book they’ve been given
and to try and read it. When you next
meet find out what everyone thought
of their surprise read. This can often
introduce a reader to a genre or author
that’s new to them, and encourage
them to broaden their reading range.
It can also be useful for getting less
well-known books borrowed and read.
Blind date with a book
Here’s an idea for Santes Dwynwen Day.
It’s similar to wrapped-up reading, but
this time members choose which book
to wrap up to give to someone else.
Write everyone’s names on a slip of
paper. Each member draws one name
from a hat and then has to choose a
book (from the club or library’s stock)
for that person. They wrap the book
(perhaps enclosing a heart-shaped card
for a reader comment) with the
recipient’s name on the outside. At the
session, everyone takes the book
labelled for them and agrees to try and
read it. Next time, find out how they
got on with their blind date.
Lonely hearts
Write a lonely hearts column entry for
book characters, or write a character’s
letter to a problem page or agony aunt.
Read around the world
Put up a world map chart and use
stickers to mark the settings of books
read by the members.
Supporting other readers
Reading buddies
Buddying schemes help to develop
reading skills and increase readers’
self-esteem. They change attitudes
towards reading and encourage young
people to read more widely. Reading
buddies are older readers who act as
mentors to younger ones. You may be
able to pair up buddies from within
your club members, if you have a good
age spread. If not, ask older readers
whether they’d be interested in helping.
They may be able to gain credits towards
an award or qualification. Mentors
should be trained in how to run the
buddy sessions and how to promote
books to their buddies. Check your child
protection policy too, if you are bringing
in buddies from another setting or school.
Buddying schemes can be useful at
transition into secondary school. Would
it be possible for the group of mentors
to visit the primary school during the
summer term to talk to Year 6 pupils
about the reading club and how they
support it?
This is how we do it…
The library chairs and tables are
moved to one side and cushions are
thrown on the floor once a week for a
Year 7 lunchtime reading club.
Members bring their lunch in with
them and we have a social chat while
they eat. We then spend about 30
minutes chatting about what we’ve
been reading and focusing on a
theme – at the moment it’s short
stories. We’ve got a good mix of
abilities and everyone is encouraged
to borrow a book at the end of the
session. I sometimes set them
challenges for the week – to read a
book they would never normally read,
or to choose a book recommended by
another member. I run the club
completely on my own with no
support from teachers – but I manage
– in fact I really love it. I have no
money to spend on the club but we
don’t really need any – we use the
school library’s stock or I borrow from
the Schools Library Service. My aims
are to see the members enjoying their
reading and feeling confident as
readers, and to see them broaden
their reading choices – and I think we
achieve this.
Tips
l Target young people who would
enjoy and benefit from the club.
l Plan your sessions beforehand.
l Know what your aims are.
Secondary school library assistant
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
Planning what to do
The Book Year
There are many events and special
events during the year that focus on
books – see the list alongside. Choose a
few to concentrate on and plan some
activities around them. The adult book
prizes might be of interest to older
secondary school readers.
You could also look at seasonal events
such as Santes Dwynwen Day,
Holocaust Memorial Day, St David’s
Day, the Urdd Eisteddfod, Christmas,
Halloween and Bonfire Night. What
about any school events or
anniversaries?
Major international events such as the
Olympics or the World Cup would be a
chance to run sessions on books set in
other countries or books in translation,
information books about countries or
books with sporting themes. For
football ideas, visit Reading the Game at
www.literacytrust.org.uk/football/
index.html.
January
Whitbread Book Award
www.whitbread-bookawards.co.uk
February
National Storytelling Week
www.sfs.org.uk
March
World Book Day (first Thursday)
www.cllc.org.uk
www.worldbookday.com
April
Orange Prize for Fiction (adult)
www.orangeprize.co.uk
May
National Share a Story Month
www.fcbg.org.uk
June
Carnegie and Greenaway Awards
www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk
July/August
Summer Reading Challenge in libraries
www.readingagency.org.uk
October
Children’s Book Week (first full week)
www.booktrust.org.uk
National Poetry Day (first Thursday)
www.poetrysociety.org.uk
Family Learning Week
www.campaign-for-learning.org.uk
Black History Month
www.black-history-month.co.uk
Man Booker Prize (adult)
www.bookerprize.co.uk
November
Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
http://books.guardian.co.uk
Blue Peter Book Awards
www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/
bluepeter/bookclub/awards/
On pages 21 to 24 you will find
activity sheets to use with the ‘Book
chatting’, ‘Dear reader…’ and
‘Bookmarking’ activities.
20
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 21
Book chatting
Use some of these questions to get your
book discussion going. Photocopy the
sheet on a piece of card, laminate it and
cut it into individual question cards.
Was it what you expected
from this book?
Did your feelings change as
you read through the book?
Did you start slowly or did
you get stuck in straight
away?
Did someone or something
annoy you and stop you
from getting started?
Why did you choose this
book to read?
Which character did you
react to most strongly?
What did you think of the
ending?
Would you recommend the
book to anyone else?
With which character would
you like to spend time on a
desert island?
What gave you a fright?
Was there one really
memorable scene?
If you didn’t finish the book,
can you explain why it
didn’t grab you?
How did you feel after you’d
finished the book?
What sort of reader would
enjoy this book?
Does the book remind you
of any other book or film, or
of a personal experience?
How should the book have
finished?
Did you prefer some
characters to others?
What do you think of the
book cover and design?
Who was your favourite
character?
Would you have chosen
this book normally?
Were parts of the book
more readable than others?
Which part of the book
gave you the most
difficulty?
Activities
Do you re-read books?
Do you read outdoors?
Are you influenced by
whether a book is a prizewinner?
Do you read in public?
Do you have a favourite
chair to read in?
Which character would
you like to be?
What makes you give up on
a book before the end?
Do you read to learn more
about something?
What else do you do while
you read?
Where is the most unusual
place you’ve read a book?
Has a book ever helped
you sort out a problem?
Why do you come to a
reading club?
Have you ever been
disappointed by a book?
Do you care what other
people think about the
books you read?
Who do you talk to about
the books you read?
Where do you keep your
books at home?
Do you prefer long or
short books?
Do you read for short or
long chunks of time?
Do you sometimes read to
protect yourself or to
hide?
Do you prefer books
written by men or
women?
Dear reader…
Use some of these questions to get
everyone talking about themselves as
readers. Photocopy this page and the
next, laminate them and cut them into
individual question cards.
Are you looking for
something familiar or
something new?
Do you read the latest hot
books to keep up?
Do you read to stop feeling
bored?
Do you get rid of books?
22 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 23
How do you mark where
you’ve reached in a book?
Do you look at the end
before you get there?
What’s most likely to annoy
you about a book?
Can you read while other
things are going on around
you?
Why did you choose the
book you’re reading at the
moment?
Do you have more than
one book on the go at the
same time?
Do you prefer characters
that are like you or unlike
you?
Have you ever had a
fright whilst reading?
What sort of book do you
avoid?
Do you always finish a
book once you’ve
started?
Do you stay up late to
finish a book?
How do you start to
read a book?
Have you ever lied about
what you’re reading?
Do you enjoy listening to
someone else reading
aloud?
Do you always read in bed
before going to sleep?
How do you decide what
to read next?
Do you cry when you read?
Do you read to relax?
Can you remember the
first book you read?
Is there a book you’ve
been meaning to read
for ages?
Dear reader... (more question cards)
This is where I stopped to think about
my reaction to the first chunk I read.
First impressions
Expectations
Bookmarking
Photocopy this sheet and slice it into
four bookmarks – giving a set of four to
each reader.
This is where I really got into the book
and knew I’d carry on reading it.
What’s hooked me in?
Expectations
This is where I started to lose interest
in the book.
Why?
Expectations
This is the last page I read.
Was it worth it?
Tip for another reader
24 Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 25
To cater for the varying reading tastes,
interests and abilities of its members,
your reading club will, of course, need
access to as wide a range of books and
other reading material as possible.
Consider the needs of boys and girls
because they will differ.
Make sure you include:
l new contemporary fiction and poetry
l modern and traditional classics
l picture books (including ones for
older readers)
l non-fiction and reference books
l audio books on CD
l books in other formats as necessary
(for example, in Braille)
l comics, magazines and newspapers.
The bulk of your stock will be in Welsh
and/or English, but you could also
include books in other languages that
your members speak. You could run
activities based on books in other
languages, dual-language books and
books in translation.
How do we get the books
and resources we need?
How to choose books
Aim for:
l a combination of books chosen by
knowledgeable adults and books
chosen by the members themselves
l some key books by the most familiar
and recognised writers
l a regular infusion of new writers and
unusual genres or themes
l topical and fashionable books (for
example, books of films or TV tie-ins;
sport or craze books) – they will do
wonders for the club’s street cred!
Seek advice from a children’s or school’s
librarian. Build up your own book
knowledge by reading as much as you
can and by looking at book websites
and reading children’s book magazines
such as Books for Keeps, Carousel, TbK,
Teen Titles and Bawd. Involve the
members – ask them if there are books
they’d like to see.
Borrowing
l The school’s own library – many
secondary school reading clubs are
based around school libraries, so you
should have a good range of stock
readily to hand.
l To support the club, your Schools
Library Service (SLS) may be willing to
lend a general selection of books, or a
collection based on whichever theme,
author or topic the club is following
(access to this service may be limited
by your school’s contract with the
SLS, or you may not be lucky enough
to have an SLS in your area).
l Your local public library – ask for a
special membership card for the club
so that you can borrow more books
for longer periods. You could build in
regular visits to the library to choose
new books into the club’s
programme, and help the members
develop browsing and choosing skills,
and to become familiar with their
local library. Borrowing library books
and changing them regularly will
mean a constant supply of new, good
quality and fresh books for your
members.
Buying
l If it isn’t based in a library, the reading
club should have its own core
permanent collection of key books.
This could be the biggest item a new
club will have to invest in. Avoid using
books from classrooms.
l The PTA, or local businesses or
community groups may be willing to
donate money or pay for a magazine
subscription.
l Ensure that you get a good discount
by buying from a good supplier (your
Schools Library Service or local library
may be able to help you access their
book suppliers).
l Clubs that join ContinYou’s Book-It!
reading clubs programme will have
access to 50 per cent discounts from
selected suppliers. Visit
www.readingclub.org.uk for details.
Donating
l To supplement a core stock of good
quality library or bought books, you
could invite donations of books from
the members, parents or the wider
community. This may be an effective
way of raising the club’s profile within
the school community.
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
l Emphasise that the books must be in
very good condition and should
appeal to your members. Donated
books will add a personal touch, and
you could fix sticky labels signed by
the donors inside the covers of the
books.
l Have a regular book or comic
swapping activity, or have a table at
club meetings where members can
put books they bring from home that
they’d like to swap for something
different. Weed your collection of
donated books and magazines
regularly, as they can get very tatty.
A few copies in good condition are far
more attractive than boxfuls of
rubbish.
This is how we do it...
I’d always wanted to offer a reading
club for the keen readers who came
into the library, so I set up our
Saturday morning club about three
years ago. We meet once a month
and focus on a different author or
theme each time. There are about
twelve regulars, aged 8 to 12, and
some of our older former members
come back to help because they
enjoy it so much.
We chat about the author of the
month, find information on the
internet or in books, and discuss the
individual books members have read.
We write up comments for a display
in the library – and we’ve even made
our own versions of books with new
characters and events. We also write
up a report on each meeting for our
library service website. I ask the
members what they want to read
over the coming months, and
occasionally I suggest something that
another library member has enjoyed.
Because of the age span, I try to find
authors or themes that have a wide
enough range to cover the different
abilities and interest levels. Over the
year I see the members’ confidence
as readers growing – they are much
more willing to discuss and to
suggest books for the group.
Tip
l Give your reading club’s activities a
profile. Get the members involved
in helping to post their reading
lists, comments and suggestions for
other keen readers on the local
library website, or on the school
website.
Children’s librarian
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 27
How do we tell everyone
about the club?
Decide who needs to know about the
club and what they need to know. Tailor
your publicity to suit the audience.
l Use your members – they are your
most powerful marketing tool. They
can show others what the club is
achieving and gain support for the
club.
l Run a poster campaign with an
element of mystery when setting up
the club.
l Put notices in class registers regularly
so that colleagues can tell pupils
what’s happening at the club.
l Use noticeboards and display areas
around the school, not just in the
place the club meets.
l Display notices in places such as the
local library, sports centre and
community centre.
l Produce a newsletter, e-letter or
website.
l Produce membership badges, cards,
caps or T-shirts.
l Write press releases for local papers.
Keep them short, concise and factual,
with all the basic information and a
contact name and number for more
information. Invite photographers to
events, parties and special activities.
l Offer to hold a school assembly or to
speak about the club at a parents’
evening.
l Offer a regular column of readers’
comments from members on
different books for the local paper or
papur bro.
l Contribute articles to the authority’s
newsletters and professional press.
Remember to acknowledge partners’
and funders’ support.
Don’t be modest – tell the world about
your achievements.
Make sure all parents know about the
club – explain its purpose, who’s
running it, what it will do, and what
happens if it can’t meet. Support from
parents is important, especially for a
club that meets after school, at
weekends or during the holidays.
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
Provide a good variety of activities and
try to attract a flow of new members.
The Reading clubs report research
showed that the most common reason
for a club’s lack of success (numbers
falling and enthusiasm waning) was
choosing the wrong activities.
Involve the children in planning and
evaluating the activities. Keep up with
publicity, make sure you get feedback
from the members and ask nonmembers
what it is that puts them off.
If it isn’t working, don’t be afraid to
stop, change and start again.
Show a good example
Set up a staff reading group to
demonstrate that adults read for
pleasure and share their reading
experiences with others. You could read
adults’ or young people’s books, or a
mix of both. You might want to have
wine and nibbles to entice people there.
Your local library may be able to lend
you sets of books and offer links to other
reading groups in the area. Sharing the
buzz: guidance for reading groups (Welsh
Books Council, 2005) has a lot of useful
advice and ideas. Your local library will
probably have a copy, or you can view it
online at www.cllc.org.uk .
Recognise members’
achievement
Reward members for their commitment
to the club and make them feel special
for being readers.
Give out membership cards, and
certificates for attendance or behaviour.
Throw an end-of-term party. Give prizes
for quizzes and competitions.
Have a club awards ceremony –
members could come up with
categories (most experimental reader,
most surprising reader, most loyal
reader and so on).
If you have a merit points system, award
points for commitment to the club
meetings and to reading. Acknowledge
individual members if they help with
the running of the club.
How do we keep it going?
This is how we do it…
It’s just like an adult reading group –
we’ve been reading Small island, Pride
and prejudice, and 1984. The
members are able pupils from Years
10 and 11 – a small group with more
boys than girls. Teachers helped me
to target and invite them. We meet
up every fortnight for 40 minutes
during late lunch and afternoon
registration period (I got help from
the Deputy Head to release the
members). We spend a month on
each book – that gives everyone time
to read it. We have tea and biscuits,
and the members enjoy being
treated as special – we’ve even had
our photo in the paper!
Tips
l In any reading club it’s a good idea
to find ways to make your
members feel special.
l If the club is doing something you
think the rest of the community
might be interested in, contact the
local newspaper or radio station.
Secondary school library assistant
This is how we do it…
We wanted to raise the profile of the
library within several schools, so I
worked with the library assistants to
set up Year 7 and 8 reading clubs at
lunchtimes or after school. I have a
small budget to help pay for books
and some author visits; the staffing is
voluntary and some teaching staff
help out too. The clubs meet every
week for a six-week block at a time –
we find that’s long enough for the
young people to commit to.
Most of the time everyone reads the
same books (one Welsh title and one
English each six weeks), and we
include some activities for variety and
to encourage the less able readers.
Some of the clubs have been on visits
to see films of books, too.
Tip
l To maintain interest, sometimes it’s
useful to run a reading club for
shorter blocks of time, say twice a
year.
Schools and children’s librarian
28
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 29
If you persuade volunteers to run the
club with help from the members,
borrow all the books you need from the
Schools Library Service, local library or
the school library, and have all your
publicity materials designed and
produced in house, you may not need
any money to run your club!
Many very successful clubs have no
funding of their own, so don’t let a lack
of money put you off setting up a club.
However, as you plan your club you will
need to be clear on whether you will
need specific funding:
l Will all your adult staff be voluntary or
people who offer in-kind services, or
will you need to pay? Ask the
headteacher/senior staff for advice
and make sure you have
management approval on everything
relating to staffing and supervision.
l If your reading club is not part of a
school, make sure that you know
what budget or funding you will need
and how the club will run.
l Will you need to buy some books or
magazines for the exclusive use of the
club’s members?
l Will you need materials to create
publicity – paper for internet
printouts, for example?
What about funding?
l Do you want to give goodies to club
members – badges, pens, notebooks,
T-shirts and so on?
l Will you have to pay for your venue if
it’s not in school?
l Will you want to take club members
on visits – will there be any admission
charges or transport costs?
l Are there any health and safety or
insurance issues to consider?
l Will you provide refreshments? This
may be necessary in an after-school or
holiday club.
Consider the long-term sustainability of
the club – even if you start off with no
money, you are likely to need some later
on. Ask your headteacher, manager or
bursar for advice.
Break down all potential costs on paper
and make a note of all free and in-kind
support.
Sources of money
If you decide you need to look for funding,
there are many potential sources.
Within school
l School budget
l PTA funds
l Specific fundraising
Within the local authority
l LEA initiatives (for example, for gifted
and talented pupils, literacy or
truancy) – if you link the club to your
school’s strategic plans or literacy
strategy, would you be able to access
some funding?
l Library service or arts service targeted
funding to support reading or
literature initiatives
l Children and Young People’s
Framework Partnerships
l Local councillors (some councillors
are allocated small discretionary
budgets for local projects, or they can
help ‘sponsor’ a bid to a larger fund
within the authority – speak to your
relevant governors)
Local funders
l Local grant-making bodies (for
example, town councils, charitable
trusts, a Rotary Club) – your local
Voluntary Services Council may be
able to help point you in the right
direction
l Sponsorship by local business (an
approach to a business is often more
successful if it is one that is owned by
or employs some of your school’s
parents)
National funding bodies and grantmaking
trusts
There are many of these, such as the Big
Lottery Fund, Awards for All, Paul
Hamlyn, RiF, Academi. See the ‘Useful
information’ section.
You may need to apply to different
places for various aspects of the club
(staffing, books, consumables) and you
may be offered support in kind (time,
skills, or goods) rather than cash.
Applying for funding
l Make sure that you or your
organisation is eligible to apply.
l Can you use the PTA/PTA’s registered
charity status to gain access? As a
school you may not be allowed to
apply to some sources. Find out
whether the PTA can do so on your
behalf.
l Check that the funders give money
for this sort of activity.
l Be aware of any deadlines for
applications. Bear in mind the time it
will take to hear back from the
funders.
l Keep it simple – don’t say you’re
going to do things you’ll never
achieve.
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
l Bear in mind the aims or needs of the
donors and tailor your bid to their
criteria.
ContinYou Cymru can help you with
advice about fundraising.
Looking after the money
l Keep a record of all your income and
expenditure – ask your bursar or
administrator for advice on setting up
a simple, effective system.
l Regularly review your spending
against your budget.
l Make sure you spend within the remit
of your funding.
l Make sure you comply with your
funders’ requirements for reporting
back on how you used the money.
This is how we do it…
As a school we knew that our pupils’
literacy skills, especially reading skills,
were low and that pupils received
little support at home to develop
their reading skills and enthusiasm.
As a special needs teacher, I am
particularly aware of this and was
keen to offer to do something extra
to help. Because I love reading and
believe every child should be given
the chance to love books too, I
offered to run an after-school reading
club.
We were lucky to get a grant to set
up the club – it paid for my time and
for books. We targeted pupils from
Years 4 and 5. We invited everyone
who was interested, and used gentle
persuasion on those we thought
would benefit most. A room used as a
junk room was cleared out and
painted and I got some huge floor
cushions – I wanted to create a
relaxed and informal space that was
nothing like a classroom. We bought
books – ones that were not
connected to classrooms and that
were new to the children. We also
collected other reading material –
holiday brochures, food packaging,
magazines and comics. We asked the
members what sorts of activities they
wanted to do – they often wanted to
repeat some activities they’d really
enjoyed. We wrote reviews and had
visitors in to talk about their reading.
One local lady brought in her collection
of 4,000 bookmarks – the children were
fascinated. The 20p raffle was very
popular – children who were not
members wanted to buy tickets.
Colleagues and parents gave us small
prizes for the raffle – usually something
to do with reading. At one point we had
more members than the football club
on the same afternoon – and the
footballers even used to come in for a
drink and a story after their sessions.
We kept in touch with former members
who moved up to the secondary school
– they were invited to visit the club and
became volunteer helpers with
responsibilities such as looking after the
money or keeping the register. They in
turn received special praise from the
secondary school headteacher. We took
the whole club to visit the secondary
school one year – a great transition
activity. Another time we had a big
club picnic with parents. We saw a
huge change in the children’s
attitudes towards reading over a year.
They were far more interested in
buying books at school book fairs,
and their reading skills test scores
were much higher. They’d discovered
a motivation for reading and saw it as
much more than something you did
in class.
Tips
l Reluctant readers or those with
lower literacy skills are likely to be
encouraged to read more if the
surroundings in which they do so
are inviting and comfortable.
l Having a variety of activities, small
competitions and visitors to your
reading club keeps it stimulating
and enticing for readers.
l To boost your pool of volunteers, try
inviting back older pupils who have
been members to help run the club.
Primary school teacher
30
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 31
Transition
Contrary to the trend that shows a dip
in skills on entry into Year 7, motivated
and supported reading club members
who read regularly for pleasure are
more likely to maintain and develop
their skills following transition.
A reading club can help in the transition
from primary to secondary school. A
primary club could invite former
members who are now in Year 7 or 8 to
visit the club to talk about their reading
experiences at secondary school. The
following school year, those same older
readers could befriend a new Year 7
pupil they have met at the reading club
visit, and encourage them to attend a
reading club at the secondary school.
A secondary reading club could
welcome Year 6 visitors from local
primary schools during the orientation
visits in the summer term, for readingbased
games and activities.
A reading club may be a safe haven for
pupils who are finding a new secondary
school daunting, or who don’t want to
spend their lunchtimes on the
playground. They can make new friends
and take part in a purposeful activity.
Have a look at From primary to secondary
– moving on: out-of-school-hours learning
and transition, published by ContinYou
Cymru. It’s downloadable from
www.continyou.org.uk, or you can
order it by phone from 029 2047 8929.
Gifted and talented
Challenging books, vigorous discussion
and debate, and the support of
enthusiastic adults will give able readers
opportunities to develop their skills and
interests further. Club activities could be
extended for them by introducing more
challenging writing tasks and giving
them responsibilities within the club.
The club must have access to a good
range of high-quality books which are
suitable for the age range, but which
will extend and enrich talented readers
(including poetry, adult fiction and
books in translation).
Community focused
schools
Working in partnership with services
such as libraries, voluntary groups and
other schools will contribute towards
the community focus agenda of your
school. Bring in visitors to the club to
talk about their reading or to read to
the members, ask volunteers to help
with the running of the club, and go on
visits to the library or arts centre. Offer
to visit other schools to talk about books
and reading with peers or younger
pupils. Could a cluster of schools run a
joint reading club, rotating the venue or
using a common central facility such as
a local library or community centre to
meet? This cluster approach might be
particularly suitable for a holiday or
Saturday reading club.
ContinYou Cymru runs the Supporting
Community Focused Schools service in
Wales. To find out more, telephone
029 2047 8929.
Independent learning skills
The skills developed at a reading club,
such as choosing what to read,
reflecting on their reading, responding
to the ideas within a book, and
expressing their reaction to what
they’ve read, will help your members
become lifelong readers and to see
themselves as learners. Books constantly
challenge a reader’s view of the world,
offering new insights and experiences,
and demand that the reader grows
emotionally and intellectually.
How will the reading club contribute
to the wider learning agenda?
Family learning
Involving parents, grandparents and
other siblings in the club’s activities will
help to develop a culture of literacy
within families. Encourage parents to
read the books their children are
reading, and then to chat about the
books together. Get your members to
question their parents and
grandparents about the books they
read as children and about the books
they choose to read now. Encourage
every family to become members of
their local library, and parents to
become reading role models for their
children. Find out about adult basic
skills provision in your area (at a local
college, library or adult education
centre) and signpost parents who may
have difficulties with literacy. Ask your
local librarian to bring in a selection of
the books available for adult emergent
readers to show to parents.
The Share programme is a successful
programme for schools and LEAs to
support parents in their involvement
with their children’s learning. To find
out more, visit www.continyou.org.uk
or telephone 024 7658 8440.
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
Curriculum areas
Literacy
The whole of the reading club’s
programme will, of course, contribute
greatly to your school’s literacy work –
reading, writing, speaking and
listening. Make use of the club’s
greatest resources – the members and
the books – to motivate other pupils to
read and see reading as a positive and
enjoyable activity, and to create a
reading culture within the school.
Combine reading with creative writing
– invite an author in to hold a writing
workshop, create your own stories and
poetry and produce them as books for
others to read. Or combine reading
with drama by encouraging the
members to create sketches based on
books, to do role plays based on
situations from novels, and to take part
in national and regional book
competitions that involve performing
dramatic presentations.
Many Welsh authorities run Writing
Squads (with Academi support) for
talented young writers, who are usually
also keen readers. Some of your club
members may be Squad members too.
Ask them to tell the other members
about their Squad workshops and to
share their writing. The club could all read
books by the Squad tutor author too.
Welsh as a second language
Have a session looking at a range of
Welsh books and magazines – both
those written for learners, and those for
first language readers. Could a librarian
or member of a local Menter Iaith
(language enterprise) come in to talk
about the books? Show your members
that there are attractive, enjoyable
books available to read for pleasure
outside the classroom. Talk about how
Welsh book covers are designed to
attract readers. Look at Welsh book
websites or email authors.
History and geography
Spend a few club sessions focusing on
books set in a specific historic period or
foreign country. For a more challenging
activity for older or more able members,
read books written in the past or books
in translation.
Modern foreign languages
Try and get hold of comics, picture
books and simple books in another
language and spend a session reading
and sharing them. Get language
teaching colleagues involved in the
session. Could the members create
posters written in the language, or even
write simple readers’ comments?
ICT
Develop members’ ICT skills with
web-searching activities to look at book
and author websites. Set up a club
section on the school’s website, or
contribute items to an LEA or library
service site. Get the members creating
and producing posters and publicity for
the club on suitable software. Send
readers’ comments and use online chat
to shadow book awards.
PSE, health and well-being
Issues such as bullying, peer pressure,
family break-up, sexuality and
substance abuse can be explored
through reading books with such
themes. Run a mock advice session for a
character facing an issue, or hold a
debate looking at an issue from
different characters’ perspectives. Bring
in a colleague who has expertise in this
area to support the activity.
Look at how different books deal with
issues such as refugees, war, criminality
or disability. How do the young readers
respond to the characters and their
situations? How does reading fiction
about a subject differ from reading
non-fiction or searching the internet?
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 33
Schools ETC
Schools ETC (Extending to
Communities) is a new magazine for
those who work in and with schools to
bring about more coherent services for
children and families or to support
learning beyond the classroom.
This magazine shares good practice,
ideas and practical advice on how to
improve outcomes through
community/extended services. As
schools explore new ways of delivering
the seven core aims of ‘Children and
Young People – Rights to Action’ (WAG,
2005), Schools ETC will be a vehicle
through which readers can share
success, voice disagreements and
concerns, tell their stories and help to
inspire others.
It covers:
l parenting support and family learning
l out-of-school-hours/study support
learning activities
l partnerships for on- and off-site,
‘wraparound’ childcare
l closer links with specialist support
services, such as health and social
care, with practical examples of how
schools are building these links
l community access to ICT, sports and
arts facilities, and adult learning.
The low-cost subscription provides:
l a quarterly, full-colour magazine
l practical advice sheets (on issues such
as re-shaping the school day,
targeting for inclusion, young
people’s voice, auditing and
evaluating community provision,
effective partnerships, whole-school
programmes, and so on)
l free membership (among other
offers) of Book-it! (ContinYou’s
reading club network)
l exclusive access to a subscribers’
award
l discounts on ContinYou events and
conferences
l an e-newsletter for community
focused schools
l invitations to regional networking
events.
To find out more, visit
www.continyou.org.uk. There is an
additional discount for LEAs taking
block membership in 2006.
Useful information
Books and reading:
information and support
ContinYou’s Book-it! Programme
www.readingclub.org.uk
The Book-It! programme is a free online
resource from ContinYou for everyone
subscribing to Schools ETC. There is a
small fee for others wishing to join.
Book-it! provides a website with a range
of resources to support reading for
pleasure, plus a regular e-newsletter. On
the website you will find:
l a range of practical tools to help with
running a reading club – examples of
activities and activity sheets,
evaluation tools, links to free
resources
l book reviews
l advice on how and where to look for
funding for book clubs
l exclusive discounts from publishers
l illustrative examples of popular clubs
and activities
l information about training and
professional development
opportunities
l copies of the e-newsletter and back
issues.
To take advantage of the Book-it!
resource, subscribers to Schools ETC
should email subscriptions@continyou.
org.uk or call 020 8709 9904 to request
an online password.
Welsh Books Council
www.cllc.org.uk
Tel: 01970 624151
Supports Welsh and English language
book trade and publishing in Wales. Its
children’s book department runs
projects and activities across Wales,
such as national book competitions,
termly book information packs to all
schools, bookselling van visits and
school book-buying clubs, Sbondonics
and Sbri-di-ri. The Council co-ordinates
World Book Day in Wales and the Tir na
n-Og prize for children’s books from
Wales. Welsh author information sheets
are available on the Kids Online section
of the website.
National Literacy Trust
www.literacytrust.org.uk
An independent charity dedicated to
building a literate nation and raising
literacy standards for all age groups
throughout the UK. The Trust runs
major initiatives such as the National
Reading Campaign, Reading Connects,
Reading Champions, and Reading the
Game.
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
National Reading Campaign
www.readon.org.uk
Aims to ensure that as many people as
possible enjoy the pleasures and
benefits that reading can bring. The
Campaign is delivered by the National
Literacy Trust and focuses on two
initiatives: Reading Connects and
Reading Champions.
Reading Connects
www.readingconnects.org.uk
A DfES-funded initiative that supports
schools in building their own reading
culture. Reading Connects offers useful
resources, tried and tested ideas, case
studies, advice and funding
information. There is a downloadable
guide: Creating a reading culture
handbook.
Reading Champions
www.literacytrust.org.uk/campaign/
champions/index.html
Reading Champions harnesses the
motivating power of reading role
models to inspire other men and boys
to take up the reading habit.
Champions come from the sports and
TV world as well as schools and the
community.
Book Trust
www.booktrusted.com
A website that aims to help teachers,
librarians and parents find out about
books for children and young people. It
offers news and information, and access
to authors’ contact details.
The Reading Agency
www.readingagency.org.uk
A charity working to improve the
reading experience by inspiring,
challenging and supporting libraries.
The Agency runs the Chatterbooks
network of children’s reading groups in
local libraries and co-ordinates the
national Summer Reading Challenge.
Federation of Children’s Book Groups
www.btinternet.com/~martin.kromer/
index.htm
Tel: 0113 258 8910
A national voluntary organisation that
aims to promote enjoyment and
interest in children’s books and reading.
The Federation liaises with schools,
playgroups, libraries and publishers. It
acts as a link between children’s book
groups across the UK, organises the Red
House Children’s Book Award,
promotes National Share-a-Story
Month (May) and holds a national
conference. It also offers advice,
support and information to groups.
National Centre for Language and
Literacy
www.ncll.reading.ac.uk
The Centre offers an independent voice,
responding flexibly to teachers’ needs,
and supports teachers, parents and
governors through a collection of
resources, publications, courses and
conferences and research. Its website
has a searchable database of authors
who will visit schools.
School Library Association
www.sla.org.uk
The SLA supports the development of
school libraries across the UK.
CILIP
www.cilip.org.uk
The professional body for librarians and
information professionals, which awards
the prestigious annual Carnegie Medal
and Kate Greenaway Award for
children’s books.
Bookmark: books and disability issues
www.bookmark.org.uk
Bookmark offers advice, information
and signposting on reading difficulties,
learning disabilities and books which
are relevant to different impairment and
disability issues. It is run by Booktrust.
National Library for the Blind
www.nlb-online.org
Access to all the services for readers
with a visual impairment. It plans to
merge soon with the Royal National
Institute of the Blind (RNIB) to provide
one national Braille and audio library
service for visually impaired readers.
Fiction Café
www.fiction-cafe.nlb-online.org
The NLB’s special books and reading
website for visually impaired young
people.
Royal National Institute for the Blind
www.rnib.org.uk
Offers details of the subscription-based
Talking Books Service, which includes
children’s books, good practice
guidelines on creating accessible
resources and a section on Wales with
contact details for Welsh language
resources.
Clearvision
www.clearvisionproject.org
This is a postal lending library of
mainstream children’s books with
added Braille, ideal for sharing with
friends and family. Membership is free
to families and there is a low
subscription for schools and libraries.
34
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 35
Speaking of Books
Jan Powling, Speaking of Books,
9 Guildford Grove, Greenwich,
London SE10 8YJ
Tel/Fax: 020 692 4704
This agency offers access to leading
writers, illustrators and storytellers to
work in schools.
Ideas for activities
Carnegie Greenaway Shadowing
www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk
The website for the most prestigious
children’s book prizes in the UK. It
details longlists and shortlists and offers
an interactive section for young readers
to post reviews and comments on the
books.
Cool reads
www.cool-reads.co.uk
A book reviewing website by young
people for young people. Plenty of
suggestions here for books to read and
good examples of writing about books.
Blue Peter Book Club
www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/
bookclub
News, special offers, reviews and star
stories, and details of the Blue Peter
Book Awards.
Reading the Game
www.readingthegame.org.uk
A National Literacy Trust initiative which
works with professional football to
promote literacy and to raise reading
motivation for all ages – good ideas for
harnessing the power of football’s
popularity in order to promote reading.
Reading Is Fundamental UK (RIF)
www.rif.org.uk
As well as offering funding for projects,
the RIF website has useful information,
and activity sheets to download from
the resources section.
Readathon
www.readathon.org
A national, sponsored reading scheme,
often used by schools during Children’s
Book Week, although it operates all year
round. Children undertake to read
books or take part in other literacybased
activities of their choice in return
for pledges of money from family and
friends. All money raised is donated to
the Roald Dahl Foundation and Sargent
Cancer Care for Children.
My Home Library
www.myhomelibrary.org
Author Anne Fine’s website to
encourage children to build up their
own home libraries. Free downloadable
bookplates donated by top illustrators
and ideas on how to acquire books
(especially from charity shops).
Seven Stories: the Centre for
Children’s Books
www.sevenstories.org.uk
Tel: 0845 271 0777
The new Centre in Newcastle upon
Tyne, which actively collects original
artwork and manuscripts by British
writers and illustrators for children. The
Centre hosts exhibitions and
educational programmes.
Stories from the web
www.storiesfromtheweb.org
Interactive story-based website with a
section for under 8s, 8 to 11 and 11+,
with activities and games, book and
author information, and opportunities
to submit creative writing.
Achuka
www.achuka.co.uk/index2.html
An independent site of news and
reviews of books for children and young
people.
Authors
Many children’s writers and illustrators
have their own websites, or have pages
on their publishers’ websites. Just type
their names into a search engine and
you can find information about writers’
books, their life stories, and often games
and activities. Many authors also invite
readers to respond to their books or to
send questions. Most sites will also
explain how to contact authors to
arrange school visits.
www.ukchildrensbooks.co.uk lists over
200 English language authors’ websites.
www.ncll.reading.ac.uk also has a
searchable database of authors and
illustrators willing to visit schools and
libraries.
The website of the Welsh Books Council
(Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru)
www.cllc.org.uk has downloadable
information sheets on authors from
Wales.
Academi’s site www.academi.org –
gives contact details for writers from
Wales.
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
Funding
ContinYou
www.continyou.org.uk
A downloadable guide, Fundraising
guidance for study support/out-of-schoolhours
learning, published in March
2005, covers everything from planning
your activities to corporate sponsorship,
and includes fundraising from grantmaking
trusts, as well as useful contacts.
Big Lottery Fund
www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Wales office Tel: 01686 611700
There are two Big Lottery Fund
programmes specific to Wales. People
and Places aims to bring people
together to make their communities
stronger; it is open to community,
voluntary and public sector
organisations, giving grants between
£5,000 and £1million. Young People’s
Fund Wales focuses on young people
aged 10 to 19; its ‘Make it happen’
strand will fund projects planned by
young people and gives grants between
£500 and £5,000.
Awards for All
www.awardsforall.org.uk/cymraeg/
wales/
Tel: 0845 600 2040
A grants programme set up to help
small groups and strengthen
communities, supported by the Big
Lottery Fund and the Heritage Lottery
Fund. Awards grants between £500 and
£5,000.
Roald Dahl Foundation
www.roalddahlfoundation.org
Supports literacy projects with grants
for out-of-school projects. It welcomes
applications from charities throughout
the UK for work with children with poor
literacy skills and to support young
people with visual impairments or head
injuries to access the written word.
Worth considering if your PTA is a
registered charity.
Academi
www.academi.org
Tel: 029 2047 2266
This is the literature promotion agency
for Wales. Its Writers on Tour scheme
will part-fund visits by authors, poets
and storytellers. Apply by contacting
Academi at least one month before the
event. It will also fund larger-scale
literature projects. Its website lists
contact details of writers and storytellers
based in Wales.
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
www.phf.org.uk
Supports arts and education initiatives
for young people within and out of
school, particularly if these break new
ground or are risky. Current priorities
include improving access to books and
reading. Awards up to £5,000 are made
to local schemes for one year.
Reading Is Fundamental UK (RIF)
www.rif.org.uk
Tel: 020 7828 2435
An initiative of the National Literacy
Trust to help children realise their
potential by motivating them to read.
RIF projects provide activities and free
books for children to choose and keep.
Any non-profit group may apply to start
up an RIF project and priority is given to
those who have already managed to
raise some funds.
Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust
www.milleniumstadium.com/
3473_3540.php
Tel: 029 2049 4963
This Trust raises its funds from a levy on
every ticket sold for events at the
stadium. It aims to promote education,
history, language, culture, music and
folklore, especially for those who face
discrimination or disadvantage. It will
give grants to not-for-profit
organisations and charities – up to
£2,000 for local projects. Download full
guidelines from the website.
Find out more: www.continyou.org.uk 37
Children’s books
and magazines
Books for keeps
Bi-monthly magazine aimed at teachers
and librarians. It offers reviews, news,
articles, and author profiles. Contact:
6 Brightfield Road, Lee, London
SE12 8QF Tel: 020 8852 4953
www.booksforkeeps.co.uk
email: booksforkeeps@btinternet.com
Carousel
Termly books magazine aimed at
parents and teachers. It offers short
articles, reviews and news. Contact:
Carousel, The Saturn Centre, 54–76
Bissell Street, Birmingham B5 7HX
Tel: 0121 622 7458
www.carouselguide.co.uk .
TbK
A colourful magazine aimed at 7 to 12
year olds, with extracts of new books,
information about authors, activities
and competitions. Contact: Peters
Library Service, 120 Bromsgrove Street,
Birmingham B5 6RL Tel: 0121 666 6646
www.peters-books.co.uk
Bawd
An annual Welsh language books
magazine for Key Stage 3 written by
young people, with articles, news and
reviews. Published by Gwynedd Library
Service. Contact: Nia Gruffydd
NiaGruffydd@gwynedd.gov.uk
01286 679465
BOOX
Books magazine for teenagers by
teenagers
www.boox.org.uk
Contact: The Reading Agency
www.readingagency.org.uk
Teen Titles
Termly book review magazine for
teenagers. Contact: Jackie Henrie,
Publications Manager, City of
Edinburgh Council Education
Department, 10 Waterloo Place,
Edinburgh EH1 3EG Tel: 0131 469 3331
jackie.henrie@educ.edin.gov.uk
Bibliography
Creating a reading culture handbook
Published by Reading Connects/DFES.
Download from
www.readingconnects.org.uk
Reading clubs report
Published by Education Extra, 2003.
Download from www.continyou.org.uk
Sharing the buzz: guidelines for reading
groups
Written by Bethan M Hughes and
published by the Welsh Books Council
in 2005. Copies are available at local
libraries in Wales or to download from
www.cllc.org.uk .
Reading for change
Report on research by the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), published 2001.
Download from www1.oecd.org/
publications/e-book/ 9602071E.pdf
ContinYou thanks the following people for their help with This is how we do it:
l Eileen Jones, Denbighshire LEA
l Frances Jones, NE Wales Schools Library Service
l Ros Harding, Ysgol Bryn Alyn, Gwersyllt
l Sarah Barker, Ysgol Dinas Brân, Llangollen
l Julie Danson, Ysgol Brynhyfryd, Ruthin
l Llinos Hughes & Sue Tame, Ysgol Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd
l Edwina Crump, Ysgol Parch Thomas Ellis, Holyhead
l Nia Gruffydd, Gwynedd Library Service
l Alison Shepherd, Cefn Mawr Library
l Beverley Owen, Prestatyn Library.
Some of the ideas for activities first appeared in The reading group toolbox by Rachel
Van Riel and Olive Fowler (Opening the Book, 1999); and Sharing the buzz: guidelines
for reading groups by Bethan M Hughes (Welsh Books Council, 2005).
Written by Bethan M Hughes
Editing: Paddy O’Dea, ContinYou
Welsh translation: Alwyn Selway
Desktop publishing: Christine Knight, ContinYou
Design and layout: Paul Mepham, ContinYou
Advisers: Pam Boyd and Brian Hubble, ContinYou
Acknowledgements
Copyright © ContinYou 2006
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