‘Children and young people’s enjoyment of reading and daily reading habits have risen for the first time in five years, having reached a 20-year low in 2025, according to our latest research.
While the relationship between reading enjoyment and daily reading is crucial, new insights in our research indicates reading must also be relevant, meaningful and supported by people in children’s lives for it to become strongly embedded.
Relevance is particularly important for children who are the least engaged with reading; boys and children from disadvantaged backgrounds who don’t enjoy reading and who read less than once a week are more likely than their peers to say reading helps them explore their interests.’
(https://literacytrust.org.uk/reading-for-pleasure/)
Nurturing a culture of reading for pleasure in schools requires moving beyond the mechanics of literacy to focus on student autonomy, engaging environments, and staff who actively model reading habits. Grounded research—such as findings from the National Literacy Trust and pedagogical frameworks—demonstrates that true reading cultures must be responsive to individual student communities and driven by authentic adult modelling.
If we’re being completely honest, nurturing a real love for reading in schools isn’t something you can just force into a lesson plan. It is less about ticking curriculum boxes and much more about creating a vibe where students actually want to pick up a book.
1. Teachers need to show, not just tell
Students have a spectacular radar for hypocrisy. If we tell them reading is amazing but they never see us do it, they won’t buy in. Authors like Helen Hendry and Lucy Rodriguez Leon talk about this in their book Reading Teachers:
2. Give them total control over what they read
If a child is forced to read something they hate, they will just assume they hate reading altogether.
3. Make reading feel like a treat, not a chore
If reading time feels rigid and strict, it feels like a punishment.
4. Turn it into a social thing
Reading doesn’t have to be a lonely activity.
This blog was written by Bretta Townend-Jowitt, Education Consultant and Trainer.
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