Reading for pleasure at Key Stage 3 and beyond
Maintaining a relationship with reading is an increasing challenge as children transition to secondary school. The transition period can be a tricky one, particularly for struggling readers – as pupils’ success in KS3 depends on their ability to decode and understand new vocabulary rapidly – so it's important to identify and support these pupils early on.
The DfE's updated reading framework emphasises that providing access to a wide range of engaging, diverse books, both fiction and non-fiction, to capture older students' imagination is vital to keeping them reading as other activities and interests increasingly compete for their attention.
Looking for new books? Our team's recommendations below highlight some of the best new fiction and non-fiction, popular classics, award-winning titles and more to help you get secondary students hooked.
Keep checking this page for our team's top tips on building a reading community – coming soon! You can also explore previous editions of our newsletters for reading and writing inspiration from our schools team.