91����

On the surface, it seems that our understanding of how children learn to read has never been better.

Across the profession, there is much greater awareness of how phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension interact. Reading has a higher profile, literacy is under greater scrutiny, and there is much more confidence in discussing the mechanics of how children develop reading skills.

Yet, despite all of this, many pupils who can read still do not remain readers beyond the school gates.

Recent found that although children and young people’s enjoyment of reading and daily reading habits have risen slightly in the past year, levels are still significantly lower than they were a decade ago.

Pupils are choosing not to read

So, if schools are getting better at teaching reading, why are so many young people still not choosing to read?

It’s easy to assume that the problem must be down to motivation and so schools respond by doubling down on encouragement and incentives. They introduce routines, campaigns, reading challenges, assemblies, logs, tutor-time reading and messaging about why reading matters.

Sometimes these things help, but more often than not, they don’t. I believe that’s because these solutions miss the fact that a child’s reading life is not only shaped by how well they can read, but by the conditions they are being asked to read in.

This is why I have increasingly come to think of reading in ecological terms.

Recognising different readers

We still talk about “reluctant readers” as though reluctance always has the same cause. But this is not the case. Children might lack reading stamina; they might have lost their confidence; or they might have emotionally disengaged from reading.

A child may read all the time in sports journalism, in fandom spaces, in game worlds, but not recognise themselves as a reader because none of that seems to count in school.

These are different problems, and yet schools often approach them as one and the same.

As a result, schools can become very good at producing the outward signs of reading - the displays, the routines, the logs, the reading corners, the events, the assemblies, the “drop everything and read” moments - without addressing the underlying conditions that determine whether reading feels viable in a child’s life.

If reading is only ever recognised when it is public, enthusiastic, book-based and immediately measurable, then many young people will continue to stop doing it while appearing to be surrounded by reading.

So, what exactly should schools be doing differently?

1. Allow more routes into reading

Many schools unintentionally narrow what counts as reading. If pupils only receive recognition for reading novels, they may overlook the substantial reading they already do through magazines, graphic novels or in online communities.

This does not mean treating all reading as identical (for instance, researchers have raised concerns about children spending too much time reading graphic novels, which have lots of pictures but few words). Rather, it means recognising that different forms of reading can act as entry points into a wider reading life.

Schools should actively communicate that reading exists in many forms and that these forms can provide valuable routes into sustained engagement with text.

2. Reduce the friction around choosing texts

Schools often focus on encouraging reading without considering how difficult it can be for pupils to know what to read next. Some young people do not stop reading because they dislike it, but because choosing becomes overwhelming.

We can help by offering carefully curated recommendations. These might come in the form of themed displays or lists of staff and peer recommendations.

Teachers should also seek to offer pupils the chance to sample texts before committing to them.

The easier it is for pupils to find their next read, the more likely they are to remain engaged.

3. Make reading part of everyday school life

Reading cultures are rarely built through occasional events alone. They are built when reading becomes an ordinary and visible part of school life.

This might mean including short reading extracts within assemblies, encouraging staff to talk about what they are reading, using tutor time to share recommendations or incorporating reading naturally into wider school communications. The aim is not to make reading feel exceptional, but to make it feel normal.

4. Use data to understand conditions, not compliance

Many schools collect data about reading frequency or book completion. While useful, this only tells part of the story.

Schools should also seek to understand why pupils are or are not reading. Surveys, conversations and reading interviews can reveal barriers such as confidence, competing demands, uncertainty about what to choose or a lack of reading identity. This information allows schools to respond more precisely and create conditions that make reading more viable.

Ultimately, improving reading outcomes may require schools to look beyond reading itself.

Children do not read in isolation. They read within an ecology of relationships, routines, opportunities and expectations. When schools improve those conditions, reading becomes not only more visible, but more possible.

Adam Lancaster is head of literacy at Monk’s Walk School in Hertfordshire

��