National Year of Reading Booklet

NATIONAL YEAR OF READING 2026

The National Year of Reading is a government initiative designed to tackle the decline in reading among young people. Its message is simple: Go All In. At Regents Park we are planning to do just that. Building on the fantastic reading culture we already have at our school, we are marking this special year with a series of activities, events, reading incentives, and lots of support for our young people and their families for developing and maintaining healthy reading habits.

•Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s success. (OECD,2002) •There is a proven positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment and attainment. (Clark, 2011;Clark and Rumbold, 2011; Twist et al, 2007) •Early reading for pleasure in children may support he best possible chance for good cognitive development and mental health. (Sun et al, 2024) •There is a ‘global decline in young people’s attitude to reading...The latest international studies show that young people are reading less and enjoying it less than before.’ (Loh et al, 2025) WHY DO WE NEED A NATIONAL YEAR OF READING?

New Year – New Challenge

We are launching the National Year of Reading with our Starbooks Reading Scheme. Students can collect a stamp for every book borrowed from the Library and will receive a small prize when they have collected 10 stamps. There will be Library sessions for Year 7 and 8 students to help them use the library resources effectively, as well as planned lessons in the Library for other student groups.

Love of Reading Month Celebrate a love of reading and books with u s Blind Date with a Book Back by popular demand! Find your ideal match

Chinese New Year

National Storytelling Week Tremendous Tales - join us in the Library after school on Wednesday 11th February when some special guests will be joining us to share stories with our students. There

will also be some live music and refreshments - don’t miss out!

World Book Day Free books, great

costumes, competitions and lots of activities to get involved in!

British Science Week

Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day

Shakespeare Week

Spring Into Reading

SPRING INTO READING

Lots of activities in the library to celebrate Spring and Easter!

National Share a Story Month Share a story with your friends

Mental Health Awareness Week Join us to find out how reading can help with your mental health and take part in some of our mindfulness activities at lunchtimes. Matt West - Artfulscribe Matt West from Artfulscribe will be visiting RPCC to run Year 9 poetry workshops. There will be an opportunity for some poems to be performed at the Poetry Slam Final alongside other local schools in July.

Let’s Get Outside!

World Environment Day Big Green Week World Oceans Day Pride Month School Diversity Week

Matt Oldfield, Author Matt Oldfield, author of the the very

popular Football Heroes book series will be joining us - we are really looking forward to meeting him.

Let’s Get Outside! Summer Reading Challenge! Books and events linked to sports/outdoor activities

Back to School!

Fall in Love with Reading

Books about Friendships

Black History Month Banned Books Week Dyslexia Awareness Week Libraries Week

Non Fiction November Let’s get our facts straight!

Anti Bullying Week

Spooky Books for Halloween and lots of craft activities in the library

Season’s Readings!

Winter Reading Challenge

Celebration of Reading Achievements

The Library The Library is open every day from 8.30am until 4.00pm. The Librarian is Ms Wooldridge. Students can visit the Library before school, break, lunchtime and after school. There are over 9,500 books in the Library, which are free to borrow. Students also have access to 3,500 e-books and an online newspaper called The Day, these resources can be accessed via Google Classroom.

Students can visit the Library to read, research, complete homework and join in with clubs - the Chess Club is very popular!

Reading Around School

Tutor time Reading Programme Paired Reading in the Library Library Induction Programme Team Up Dyslexia Support Group Teacher CPD Curriculum Library lessons Book stairs Reading assemblies

Useful Links

RPCC Library Catalogue https://uk.accessit.online/rgn02/#!dashboard

E-books & Audiobooks https://regents-park.wheelers.co/

The Day https://theday.co.uk/logged-in/

Local Libraries https://www.southampton.gov.uk/libraries/

Borrowbox https://www.borrowbox.com/

Readeasy https://readeasy.org.uk/

National Year of Reading 2026 - Go All In https://goallin.org.uk/