Reading Role Models – make this summer a whole school reading time

Last year we launched Reading Role Models (RRM) and were delighted that over 900 school staff signed up to read a contemporary children’s book over the summer and to share their review with pupils in the autumn. The scheme received very positive feedback and we have introduced suggestions from school staff for this year’s iteration, including the option to borrow either 1 or 2 books and a choice of review poster designed for either primary or secondary.

Schools shared some good practice from 2023 that you might want to consider as well:

• Model great reading behaviours at the start of summer by talking about the scheme in assembly in July and tell the children that you will be taking part.
• When suggesting themes for SLS to use to select titles, think about what you will be teaching in autumn and whether you might want to read the book in class.
• Co-ordinate displays of both books and posters on return to school.
• Share your reading on social media and tag us in on Instagram @hantssls.
• Keep in touch with colleagues over the summer about your reading, feel free to swap titles amongst your group and if you would like support setting up a staff reading group for children’s titles – let us know.

By combining participation in RRM, using SLS@Home to support pupils with access to books, and promoting the Summer Reading Challenge in public libraries, everyone in school can relax with a great read over the summer.

A reminder about the scheme

We all know that children learn from positive role models in life and that activities that can seem boring or ‘uncool’ become more attractive if modelled by adults who children look up to. Ofsted’s “Now the Whole School is Reading” report in October 2022 highlighted how “raising the visibility of reading across the school so that all staff knew the part they played in supporting struggling readers” saw significant impact. But we also know that some teachers struggle to find time to read new children’s books and so aren’t in the best place to recommend relevant and enjoyable reads. 

SLS Reading Role Models is an initiative to help teachers find contemporary children’s books that we believe they will enjoy reading over the summer. Teachers from subscribing schools who register for the scheme will be sent a book chosen specially for them to read over the summer. The accompanying bookmark has a QR code linking to a phone-friendly review form which should just take a couple of minutes to complete.

The Review form will populate the majority of this template poster which will be emailed to the teacher along with instructions on how to embed an image of the book cover, or perhaps a picture of the teacher reading the book.

On return to school in the autumn, you can add the books to your library or book areas and use the posters to promote your reads to your pupils.