Schools
The Summer Reading Challenge, aimed at children aged 4-11 years, inspires children to read in the long summer break when their reading skills can decline without the regular reading activity at school.
To find out more about the Summer Reading Challenge in your area, please select your local authority from this list:
Research shows that taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge can contribute towards preventing the 'summer holiday dip' in reading motivation and attainment.
How your primary school can participate
Before the summer holidays
You can help to promote the Summer Reading Challenge in school by linking with your local library. You can find out what will be happening in the library during the summer and whether you can get promotional materials to display in school, invitations to hand out to children and their families, or information to include in school-home newsletters.
- Downloadable A4 colour poster about the Challenge for your notice board or staffroom:
Staffroom Poster A4.pdf
- Ideas you can use to generate interest in the Challenge in the classroom: PreSummerClassRoomActivities.doc
- Circus Stars website for children, supporting the challenge with games, author videos, and live "book choice help" from real librarians! Launching 26th May.
After the summer holidays
There are also plenty of ways of using the Summer Reading Challenge in the autumn term to encourage reading, and enthuse pupils to talk about the books they've enjoyed.
•Post-Summer Classroom Ideas.doc
•CS Classroom Display 8 sections.pdf Can be printed, cut up and put together to create an A1 wall poster. For pupils to record their favourite books of the summer.
•Circus Stars bookmarks and review sheetsfor children to recommend books they've enjoyed to their friends.
Challenge activities for 11-12 year olds in transition (from primary to secondary school)
For pupils at the top end of primary school, there is a special notebook Circus Stars - The Show Must Go On, which is packed with reading tips and fun activities linked to the Challenge. Library services will be using it in a variety of ways. For example it may be handed out as part of the Challenge, or given to year 6 children in primary school before the holidays (via the library service), or given out by secondary school English teachers / librarians during library induction lessons to year 7s in the new term at secondary school. The notebook is not available in every authority, so you'll need to check with your local library to see if they are offering this to older or transition children, either in libraries or via the schools, or transition teams.
Chatterbooks Reading Groups 
The Reading Agency also coordinates a national network of reading groups for children called Chatterbooks, which run throughout the year. These are mostly based in local libraries although the scheme is open to schools as well. For more information and to find out if there are Chatterbooks groups near your school, visit: www.Chatterbooks.org.uk
