Have you had a chance to digest the new DfE reading framework yet, all 176 pages of it?

If you haven't, then let us share with you a few of the developments. You'll recall that the reading framework was first launched in July 2021 mostly focused on early years and KS1. The expansion of the document released in July 2023 has been delivered to provide extra guidance on how to improve the literacy of seven to 14-year-olds.

By the end of year 6, pupils’ reading and writing should be sufficiently fluent and effortless for them to manage the general demands of the curriculum in year 7, across all subjects and not just in English. It's the key to unlocking the rest of the curriculum. Yet this year's KS2 SATs results showed that only 73% of pupils met the expected standard in reading.

Furthermore we know that recreational reading is declining, both nationally and internationally. This decline is particularly marked for adolescents. Research by the National Literacy Trust in 2022 showed that the reading enjoyment of eight to 18-year-olds was at its lowest level since 2005. It is therefore essential that schools plan systematically to nurture pupils’ desire to read.

We absolutely must get our children to the standard whereby the three strands of reading – being able to read, choosing to read and spending time reading – reinforce one another, forming a virtuous circle.

Professor Teresa Cremin commented: “I think it’s good to see that the refreshed Reading Framework stretches right up to KS3 and pays attention to the power and potential of reading for pleasure, offering strategies that teachers can use to raise the profile of recreational reading as they work to create rich reading cultures.

So many schools are on this journey, so may well find the emphasis on a reading for pleasure pedagogy and the importance of respecting unique young readers’ choices helpful. Balancing reading instruction and reading for pleasure is never easy however!”

This work and framework by the DfE has many facets that will be key to balancing exactly that. It provides guidance about how reading should be taught in primary schools. It focuses on supporting leaders and teachers to make sure that their pupils start secondary school as confident readers. This is not only valuable to primary schools, but also to secondary schools to understand how reading is taught from the very beginning and how it develops before pupils enter year 7. It outlines some of the different challenges of teaching reading in the secondary curriculum and provides support for secondary schools in teaching the 27% of pupils who have not yet met those expectations in reading. Here are some of the key changes for schools to be aware of.

The updates also include information for schools and the rest of the education sector in developing fluency, developing a reading for pleasure culture, national assessments and leadership and management of reading.

Identifying the pupils who need most support
Within this framework it is stated that learning depends increasingly on literacy after year 1.

Over the course of year 2 and into KS2, the focus of the teaching of reading shifts from decoding towards ensuring pupils put in the reading miles which supports spoken language, both through teacher-led reading sessions and independent reading.

As their decoding skills become increasingly secure, teaching should be directed more towards developing their vocabulary and the breadth and depth of their reading, making sure that they become independent, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read widely and frequently.

At KS3, pupils continue to develop an appreciation and love of reading, understand increasingly challenging texts, read widely, in depth and read for pleasure and information.

The guidance said standardised reading tests “can be a useful first step in identifying these pupils”, but stressed they can only give an “approximate indication” of decoding and fluency levels. It is then important to assess all pupils with a reading age of nine and below using a diagnostic assessment for reading.

The new guidance set out in the updated reading framework states that secondary schools should identify the pupils whose reading is poor and who, as a result, have negative attitudes towards school. Every KS3 teacher must know who these pupils are and take action to support their reading during their lessons, the document adds.

Catch-up teaching is vital, the guidance said, however difficult it may be to organise sufficient time, space and staff. Given many secondary teachers and support staff won’t have had training to teach reading, it is essential to provide this. Timetabling the catch-up sessions outside class is not always possible. But "since good reading is essential if pupils are to access the full curriculum, schools will need to make difficult choices,” the document adds.

Overall this year, 59% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in all three areas of reading, writing and maths.

Choosing the best reading material
The framework advises that teachers and English subject leads might identify a core set of literature for each year group that can either be read aloud in story times or lessons.

This includes “high-quality contemporary and classic” non-fiction and fiction texts, as well as poetry and prose.

It advises that teachers should also engage their pupils in choosing new books: refreshing the list of core books regularly, as new books are published and new teachers arrive. The biggest challenge here is schools having the budget to be able to afford newly published titles. This is why we launched our online bookstores with social purpose - to enable people to donate to a school of their choice to enable them to buy more books. Read more about our purpose. Our LoveReading4Kids Funding in Schools Scheme also supports schools with disadvantage.

These can include texts that a pupil might choose to read independently, picture books – including graphic novels – and “page-turners” that are “likely to give the most pleasure”.

Here are LoveReading4Kids we read, review and recommend new children’s books day in day out all year round. And then we curate a newly updated recommended reading list for each academic year for every year group from reception to Year 10. Take a look at the latest versions in our LoveReading4Schools portal here.

The document highlights that older children can also benefit from listening to, studying and reading books from the past that still resonate today – texts from our literary heritage. Do take a look at this collection of classics every child and young adult should read which LoveReading4Kids has collated.

"Hi-lo books” are also recommended to be utilised within the framework. These are said to provide high-interest content at an easy reading level, so also check out our collection of hi-lo books we recommend.

The framework also suggests that
• teachers familiarise themselves with the stories their class will know from previous years
• teachers should supplement the core ‘read aloud’ stories with others of the teacher’s choice – and pupils’ interests
• sharing the list with parents, and explaining its purpose, so they could buy or borrow the books. This can be done via our LoveReading4Schools portal where you can adopt our recommended reading lists, or tailor them to your own needs, download them or share the link with parents and carers.

Developing a reading for pleasure culture
The framework highlights the need for pupils to put in the ‘reading miles’ to become readers. To do this, teachers need to ensure that all pupils can read at a speed that allows them to enjoy and understand the books they want to read for themselves. Emotional engagement makes a key contribution to pupils’ development as readers.

To nurture the reading habit, schools need a strategic approach rather than simply an eclectic mix of ‘reading for pleasure’ activities. Evaluation should take place regularly. Competitions, dressing up days and other promotional activities should be built into wider strategic activity, such as being used to launch a new initiative. However, these activities on their own are not enough to motivate all pupils to read regularly at home. Core strategies to encourage sustained, voluntary reading include:
• adults reading aloud regularly
• informal book talk
• encouraging library use, including the local public library
• providing time to read
• sociable reading environments.

Check out our feature on the value and importance of social reading environments

‘Influencers’ and book clubs can get children reading
The framework states that teachers should keep track of the books that popular pupils are reading as their positive reaction is likely to encourage other pupils to read the same one. Peer reviews are an important part of what we do at LoveReading4Kids. Individuals are able to upload a review of any book they have loved, and we encourage our member schools to use this as a way of fostering reading for pleasure in their setting.

And of course our treasured school librarians are very well placed to play the role of influencer. For those schools lucky enough to have them!

Our LoveReading4Schools Expert Amy McKay comments: "This shows the importance of having a school librarian available to every student; to help them navigate the treasures on all shelves, rather than restricting them on the basis of age. A good librarian will open up the world of books, allowing all readers to choose the books that are right for them as individuals.".

Choosing and Organising of Books
Now we do need to get into some of the areas in the sticky section 7 which has had a huge amount of chatter over the past few weeks. It is of course non-statutory and guidance only.

Libraries are usually arranged to encourage free choice. Yet the guidelines suggested in this new framework suggest organising a school library into areas, which may include:
• ‘decodable’ books/texts for learning to read
• books for pupils to read independently
• picture books, including graphic novels for older pupils
• ‘page-turners’, both long and short
• literature
• books/texts for the wider curriculum, including non-fiction
• ‘hi-lo’ books.

Alison Tarrant, CEO of the School Library Association comments: “We agree that it is important to support children’s reading progress, and for staged reading books arranging in this way can be the most supportive to pupils. However, reading development can happen on lots of different levels, all of which need to occur to become a strong reader – for example reading short and longer books, reading books with and without pictures, reading across different genres and authors, books which use different language or grammar forms. Arranging entire collections by one element can undermine a reading culture and reduce children’s confidence to explore widely, which reduces their ability to develop as a reader. We strongly encourage schools to consider the habits and engagement they want to encourage in children and build and organise collections which support broad and wide reading.”

Here at LoveReading4Kids, we do not subscribe to the fact that fiction and poetry be organised alphabetically in broad age-ranges and that teachers define the ages of "younger" and "older" readers. And what a page-turner might be defined as will differ for every child.

As our LoveReading4Schools Expert Joy Court shares: “Trying to confine a child's reading appetite by directing them only to sections specified for their designated age or ability is entirely counterproductive. Free choice is such a powerful motivator for young readers and nothing is more demoralising for a struggling reader than having books separated and labelled so that everyone will know that they are struggling.

Furthermore, it is worth remembering that if a school library is organised along the same lines as would be found in any public library then children are practising skills that will be used throughout their life.”

Check out our recent feature on Labelling your Library for Learning, and using the Dewey Decimal System in your library.

We do however wholeheartedly agree that engaging pupils in literature gives them access to all the things we can learn from great books and stories. They should read, listen to and talk about contemporary and classic writing by a broad and diverse range of authors, where the depth of ideas and language allows for rich discussion and study.

All pupils should encounter characters, situations and viewpoints that mirror their own lives, so they understand that they matter. Books, however, should also give them a window into the lives of others. For some pupils, stories might be the only place where they meet people whose social and cultural backgrounds and values differ from their own.

Tricia Adams, a professional librarian with more years’ experience than she cares to mention and one of our valued friends of LoveReading4Schools also comments: “Having agency to choose their own books children revel in new choices and new opportunities. They may choose a book they have read before for the comfort it brings in difficult circumstances or they may stretch themselves with a book deemed for older readers - and in doing so find a perfect match!

As long as the child knows they have the rights of a reader (Daniel Pennac et al) they know they can stop reading that book if it's not suiting them. Recognising any and all reading is important - be it non-fiction, fiction, graphic novels, verse or newspapers - they are all valid reading for pleasure.”

We support this at LoveReading and LoveReading4Kids, and 14,000 schools across the UK are supported by us by being members of our LoveReading4Schools portal - after all, it’s a totally free resource! It’s our mission to help teachers and school libraries by delivering the tools, advice, information and reading recommendations to help satisfy every student and turn them into readers for life.

As Alison Tarrant, CEO of the School Library Association says "School libraries are providing a space for children to learn who they are and find acceptance, but they are also contributing to raising literacy rates, building curiosity, supporting critical engagement online and much more."

And amen to that.