The 2008 National Year of Reading--creating a reading nation: the 2008 National Year of Reading (NYR) is an opportunity to embed a long-lasting culture of reading for pleasure in schools. Sarah Osborne, Reading Connects and Reading Champions project manager at the National Literacy Trust (NLT) suggests some strategies and activities to help this achieve this.

Osborne, Sarah

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The NYR is about building a greater national passion for reading. It is about the power of words and showing how words can shape our view of the world; bringing ideas to life and opening doors to the future.

To realise this ambitious vision, the NYR is challenging everyone to discover his or her reading identity and aims to validate the wide range of reading materials that readers can access: on screen, through books, newspapers and magazines. This challenge is highlighted by recent NLT research (Clark and Osborne 2008) which looks at young people's self-perception as readers, reading and reading materials. It also explores how this affects their motivation to read in their free time. The study highlights that, whilst young people are reading more widely than ever before, traditional definitions of reading advocated by some teachers and librarians don't necessarily incorporate how young people themselves read.

Therefore, the first potential task for schools during the NYR is to look at attitudes held by school staff, family members and the pupils themselves, to ascertain if pupils' reading identities and choices are being validated and encouraged or if negative stereotypes are being reinforced. What can we learn from a group of teenagers who say they are not readers or that they don't like reading? What is the impact of school staff who equate reading only with books, particularly fiction?

'By encouraging the enjoyment of all forms and sources of reading we are not trying to suggest equivalence between them, of course. But we do know that children who are discouraged from reading recreational materials on the grounds of them not being 'proper' reading rapidly turn away from reading altogether. Ideally, children, like adults, are reading omnivores--happily grazing between books and other media. If we give 'permission' to children to read about the things they love in the medium of their choice, we are well on the way to a more fulfilling conversation about the more aspirational joys that reading can fulfil.' (Honor Wilson-Fletcher, Director, National Year of Reading)

Repositioning attitudes and perceptions about reading, held by the staff and young people in a school community, plays an important role in fostering the cultural change that the NYR is striving to achieve.

You may like to use the NLT's self-perception questionnaire (www.literacytrust.org.uk/readingconnects/resourcesquest.html) to identify current attitudes towards reading and books held by pupils and adults in your school. You can use these results as key drivers for developing your whole-school reading culture during the NYR.

The Reading Connects approach supports schools in developing their whole-school reading culture and creating that attitudinal change. It encourages schools to embed a holistic creative approach to promoting reading for pleasure into their policies, vision and good practice, integrating the following elements:

* position reading for pleasure at the heart of the school's policy to raise standards and promote enjoyment in learning

* involve all members of staff, including catering staff, the caretaker, governors and parent groups to promote reading

* work in partnership with pupils' families to encourage reading in the home

* link up with the local community and other schools to develop a local coordinated approach to promote reading for pleasure

* make reading as visible as possible within the school environment

* learn from and share good practice with the Reading Connects network of schools and organisations

Joining Reading Connects and committing to building a whole-school reading culture is a fundamental part of the NYR challenge to schools. The challenge also encourages schools to plan activities and events during the NYR according to the specified monthly themes. See opposite to read about the themes, as well as practical ideas and potential cross-curricular links. Reading Connects has produced a series of downloadable resources to be used with the months which can be downloaded from www.literacytrust.org.uk/readingconnects/resourcesnyr.html.

While schools can choose their own monthly themes, it is a good opportunity to join forces with other schools and the local library as they may also be planning events and activities around the NYR themes. 'Enjoying Reading', a new Department for Children Schools and Families-funded initiative, has been launched to support schools in building a partnership with their local library and school library service. The Enjoying Reading website features a wealth of case studies, ideas and resources to inspire schools to build stronger partnerships with their local library service. Furthermore, on joining Reading Connects, schools will receive a hard copy of the Enjoying Reading booklet. To access the wide range of Enjoying Reading support materials, visit www.enjoyingreading.org.uk.

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The time is right: the 2008 National Year of Reading is an opportunity to build on the resources, established networks and enthusiasm that exist already and work in a more coordinated way to maximise impact. But it is also a forum to challenge what we really mean by reading and to change attitudes and stereotypes, so that every young person feels that their reading choices are valued at school, at home and in society.

Sarah Osborne

National Literacy Trust

National Year of Reading monthly themes

June--Reading escapes Focus on holiday reading or use the Summer Reading Challenge as a hook in schools and libraries. Focus on how reading helps you escape into different worlds. Try football escapes to tie-in with Euro 2008, or reads to escape the football! Possible cross-curricular link: geography. Practical idea: find the best escape stories, eg adventure stories--escape from prison, or sci-fi stories--escape from Earth. Where do you escape to read?

July--Rhythm and rhyme Celebrate poetry and lyrics from Shakespeare to Snoop Dogg. Make links between the music industry and schools. For families, don't forget 'rhyme time' sessions at your local library. Possible cross-curricular link: music. Practical idea: have a worst/best lyrics ever or worst/best football chants ever contest.

August--Read the game Sportsmen and women are an inspiration to millions. Their influence can help promote the importance of reading to people who might not otherwise be reached. Use the Beijing Olympics as a tie-in. Possible cross-curricular link: PE (at the start of the new term or as a reading challenge for the summer holidays). Practical idea: link to the Summer Reading Challenge (sport themed in 2008) and sell the idea to your students.

September--You are what you read Use reading as a way in to celebrate and explore cultural, personal and local identities. Think about city-wide reads, family history research and local community history. Possible cross-curricular links: citizenship, history, geography. Practical idea: gather stories from the school community (past and present) and the wider community about your local history, link up with the history department.

October--Word of mouth Celebrate all oral storytelling traditions: storytelling, reading out loud, reading together, live literature and so on. Also a great way to harness the power of recommended reads. Possible cross-curricular links: drama, modern languages, English, history Practical idea: use Halloween to run lunch-time ghost story read aloud sessions by candlelight.

November--Screen reads Explore the diversity of reading and writing--taking it to scripts, television and films. Get involved with Film Education (www.filmeducation.org). Possible cross-curricular links: media, ICT. Practical idea: link to story-boarding for films/TV (cross-curricular) or silent films--use of mime and captions, how to convey the written word in silence.

December--Write the future A celebration of all forms of writing and technology. Think about blogging, texting or creative writing with a futuristic theme. Possible cross-curricular links: English, ICT. Practical idea: investigate the language that new media has created and the youth culture around it.