The Importance of Reading for Pleasure: Why It Matters for Children’s Learning

Recent studies have shown a significant reduction in the number of children reading for pleasure in the UK, which has sparked concern from literacy organisations and teaching professionals. Given that research has shown a direct correlation between reading and increased educational outcomes, as well as social and emotional benefits, the questions arise:

What can be offered in terms of support, especially for schools, and why is this happening in the first place?

The Decline of Reading for Pleasure: A Growing Concern

In October last year, the National Literacy Trust revealed the findings of its Annual Literacy Survey which showed that:

“Just 1 in 3 (34.6%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said that they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2024. Reading enjoyment levels have decreased by 8.8 percentage points over the past year alone.”

These findings have led the NLT to call upon the government to form a reading task force, with multi-sector partners to address this issue. As the number of children reading for pleasure is declining, professionals are becoming more and more worried about the effects this will have on their educational outcomes, as well as the impact this has on mental health and well-being. 

Professor Teresa Cremin, who works as a professor of education (literacy) and co-director of the Literacy and Social Justice Centre at The Open University, thinks that the UK is in a ‘very worrying place’ according to TES magazine online. She has developed a framework to support schools in promoting reading and writing for pleasure. She argues that reading for pleasure is vital in breaking down socioeconomic factors which can hold back less advantaged children, as well as promoting well-being and increased social skills. 


The benefits of Reading for Pleasure

So why is this so worrying, and why is reading for pleasure so important? Well, the benefits of reading for pleasure are very well documented It increases vocabulary and social skills such as empathy and tolerance. Formal education relies on the ability to understand and communicate ideas, and children who have not developed good reading skills will struggle to do this.

The Power of Regular Reading

Reading regularly allows children to develop the skills to decipher meaning from texts, as well as write ideas and communicate orally. As children move into secondary education, language becomes more complex, and relies more on inference and understanding of language and the vocabulary around different subjects. 

Becoming a confident reader is a progression throughout childhood and indeed adulthood.When children are reading for pleasure throughout their childhood, they develop good reading and writing skills as an adult, which may have a positive impact on their educational futures. Not only that, but studies have shown that children who read have better mental health and deal with the stresses of life more easily. Reading allows children to ‘escape’ from reality sometimes, and see the world from someone else’s point of view

Confidence in Reading = Lifelong Benefits

Becoming a confident reader is a progression throughout childhood and indeed adulthood.When children are reading for pleasure throughout their childhood, they develop good reading and writing skills as an adult, which may have a positive impact on their educational futures. Not only that, but studies have shown that children who read have better mental health and deal with the stresses of life more easily. Reading allows children to ‘escape’ from reality sometimes, and see the world from someone else’s point of view.

The International Literacy Association believe that reading for pleasure is a human right for children, and have declared that children should have the right to choose what they read and that what they read should mirror and reflect their personal experiences and languages. They also believe that reading should be a springboard for other forms of communication such as discussing what they have read with others, as well as writing and speaking. This leads us onto the next point. 

Pupil not reading

Why is reading for pleasure declining?

Professor Teresa Cremin believes that one of the reasons reading for pleasure is declining is because

“[We are] not getting close enough to what young people want to read…. Are we talking to them about the kinds of text they are interested in and introducing them to a wide range? Or are we expecting them to read the “good texts” of today, or indeed of yesterday?”

Cremin also points to technology as a reason for the decline in reading. As any parent knows, the battle to get children off screens and partaking in more wholesome activities is a difficult one. With computer games and devices being so addictive, reading must seem rather slow and boring in comparison. Limiting screen time is one idea, and allowing children to be bored and start to access books or magazines, but not always easy for everyone to do.

The other point that Cremin makes is that reading is simply not shown in the media and children are not seeing positive role models reading books. Reading is not often seen as ‘cool’ or something that children do in cartoons and films.

But before we give up in despair, there are many organisations and individuals who are working hard to reengage children with the wonderful world of books.


The role that teachers play in promoting reading

Reading shouldn’t be seen as an individual cognitive task, it can be shared and enjoyed together. When teachers and pupils can discuss books as equals, this helps the child to engage with reading as a social activity. As Cremin stated in the TES Magazine article:

“It’s not a solo experience. That’s really key. And if teachers could do more of that, the research evidence shows us they would make more of a difference.”

Self-reflection is key here, and in order to tackle this issue, we need to first examine ourselves as readers and what this means to us, and then we need to ask children about their experiences of reading for pleasure. What are they actually interested in reading? 


How to support reading in schools

The National Curriculum requires that children read a variety of texts and develop their vocabulary throughout their school years. Writing in different styles and for different purposes is also required. All of this would be difficult for a child who is not a reader and is not familiar with different styles of reading and writing.

Promoting Reading in the Classroom

The International Literacy Association have produced a toolkit to promote reading in the classroom. It advises that the classroom teacher should get everyone involved in promoting books – teachers, parents, caregivers, administrators. They also suggest piquing the children’s interest by reading the first chapter of a variety of books, to encourage them to seek these books out and finish them.

Michael Rosen’s 20-Point Plan

The wonderful Michael Rosen, former children’s laureate, has written extensively on the topic of reading for pleasure and has created a ‘20-point plan on reading for pleasure’. In it, he says the focus on promoting reading should be on “building passion for reading long-term rather than expecting to see results right away.” 

He suggests holding reading events, inviting keen readers to speak about their love of books in schools – teachers, older pupils and so on. He also suggests having reading buddies, especially for reluctant readers. Something that seems to come up over and over is to find books that the reader actually wants to read, whether that is sports books, cartoons or magazines. This seems to be vital in promoting reading for pleasure.

Encouraging Library Use

Making children aware of their local library is vitally important too, this way children can easily access new books whenever they are able to visit. Inviting the local librarian to the school is a great way to get children visiting the library. This can be incredibly beneficial to children who might not have many books at home, or struggle to access new books. It is also a good way to normalise reading to children, regular visits to the school or local library mean that reading becomes a part of normal life. 

Oxford Owl: A Valuable Resource

Another fantastic resource is the Oxford Owl website which offers some great ideas for developing children’s reading skills. They make various suggestions such as creating and joining book clubs, setting a good example as an adult (by reading yourself) and audiobooks, as well as providing some in-depth guides for specific age-ranges. 

How School Planners Can Help

We take literacy skills very seriously at the School Planner Company, and our primary school diaries can be partly, or entirely a reading record. Reading records are a great way of making reading an enjoyable, daily habit. Adding reading record pages to your Primary School Planners will support literacy at Key Stages 1 and 2 through positive reinforcement and helping to identify areas of progression or concern.

To read more about how our planners can help promote reading, take a look at our blog from 2023 here

If you would like to see how planners can help your school and keep track of reading in your classrooms, you can request a sample pack.

Your Free Sample Pack

* The School Planner Company to use the information provided for quote and order processing, account management and marketing communication purposes. We will not share your data with any third parties. For further details please view our privacy policy.

Your free MATs Sample Pack

"*" indicates required fields

Step 1 of 3 - About You

Hidden
Hidden
Hidden
Our free information packs come with everything you need to understand customised planners or exercise books for your trust, including hundreds of tried and tested page examples, tips on creating planners or exercise books and all the prices, options and enhancements available to you.

* The School Planner Company to use the information provided for quote and order processing, account management and marketing communication purposes. We will not share your data with any third parties. For further details please view our privacy policy.

Request a trial

"*" indicates required fields

Step 1 of 2 - About You

Hidden
Hidden
Hidden
Hidden
Discover how easy it is to create customised exercise books for each subject with The School Planner Company. Review our high quality page library and see samples for several subjects. Minimum 500 students for trial

* The School Planner Company to use the information provided for quote and order processing, account management and marketing communication purposes. We will not share your data with any third parties. For further details please view our privacy policy.

No-Obligation Proof

"*" indicates required fields

Step 1 of 2 - About You

Hidden
Hidden
Hidden
Hidden
Our school planner specialists will create a completely free no-obligation proof for your school, with pages and resources based on your school’s information, needs and existing content.

* The School Planner Company to use the information provided for quote and order processing, account management and marketing communication purposes. We will not share your data with any third parties. For further details please view our privacy policy.

More Info

Want more information on any of our products? Talk to our product specialists who can answer all your questions

"*" indicates required fields

Want more information on any of our products? Talk to our product specialists who can answer all your questions
Data Usage*
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

* The School Planner Company to use the information provided for quote and order processing, account management and marketing communication purposes. We will not share your data with any third parties. For further details please view our privacy policy.

Request A Call Back

Want us to call you back, fill out the contact form with your preferred contact details and your time and we will call you back.

* The School Planner Company to use the information provided for quote and order processing, account management and marketing communication purposes. We will not share your data with any third parties. For further details please view our privacy policy.