Chatterbooks reading groups:launch for schools

The Chatterbooks network of children’s reading groups is now supporting primary schools to inspire more children to read for pleasure, with potentially life-changing results.

Chatterbooks reading groups encourage children aged four to 12 years old to read adventurously, talk about books and visit libraries with their families. Chatterbooks has been working successfully since 2001 through public libraries, and its ever-growing network currently involves 8500 children in 560 groups. Recent evaluation of Chatterbooks’ library-based work showed that 99% of the children involved are reading more, with 56% reading a lot more. 99% of the children taking part are more confident about reading, with 48% a lot more confident. 

Chatterbooks: delivering key school priorities:

Now Chatterbooks can be used in schools to deliver key school priorities. It can help children to achieve in almost all School Improvement areas, including:

Attainment                                                                        Education standards

Social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL)   Gender divide

Personalised Learning and Pupil Voice                    Transition

Peer mentoring and coaching                                      Literacy

Creativity, including creative writing                             Inclusion        

Community partnerships                                              Gifted and talented

Personalised Learning and Pupil Voice                    Additional learning needs

A Chatterbooks reading group can be run by teachers or teaching assistants, often in partnership with their local public library and/or school library service. It can involve a group of children, or even a whole class, meeting as often as it suits – usually weekly or monthly.

Drawing on its successful library-based work, Chatterbooks can offer schools lots of tried and tested ideas to make each reading group session inspiring and fun. Through such personalised engagement in reading for pleasure, schools will be able to make a recordable difference in pupils' progress in behaviour, competence, levels of knowledge, attitudes and creativity.

Chatterbooks in schools in practice: Staffordshire:

Staffordshire County Council has been using Chatterbooks groups, run in schools by library staff over five- to six-week periods, for six years now. Each week there is a different theme. All participating children are enrolled in their public library, and library staff bring books to the Chatterbooks school sessions for them to borrow. Parents are encouraged to attend the last hour of each session, to participate in the activities and reading discussions.

“The reading became a really enjoyable activity for the children,” says Terina Hall, language co-ordinator at Leasowes Primary School in Stafford. “They were keen to talk about and recommend books they had read.”

“We would love to integrate regular Chatterbooks sessions into our calendar, as the partnership offers so much potential to help reluctant readers,” adds Fergus Rule, Leasowes Primary School’s head teacher.

“Chatterbooks has helped us to develop very positive working relationships with local schools. It has also been rewarding when many of the children involved have become regular visitors to our libraries and are confident about chatting to us about their reading choices,” says Caroline Blundell, team leader for children and young people, Stafford District (Staffordshire Libraries.)

More Chatterbooks information and details about how to join Chatterbooks are available for schools on the new Chatterbooks microsite: www.chatterbooks.org.uk.  Or contact Tricia Kings on 0871 750 1206 or tricia.kings@readingagency.org.uk

Chatterbooks’ Patron is top selling children’s author Jacqueline Wilson. She says: “I am so pleased to be part of Chatterbooks because it encourages children to explore and have fun with reading. Through Chatterbooks they get to read widely and enjoy books they might not have picked to read on their own”.

“Chatterbooks has made me read more at school and at home, and it has made me choose different books to read,” says Morgan Marshall, 11, from Sefton.

The Chatterbooks network is run by The Reading Agency, the independent charity working to inspire more people to read more.

The Reading Agency is an independent charity working to inspire more people to read more. It is funded by the Arts Council and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. (www.readingagency.org.uk)

For more general information about Chatterbooks, please visit: www.chatterbooks.org.uk