Insights & Learning
Young People & Education: Literacy Special Initiative – Reading and Writing for Pleasure 2020-2023
Reading and Writing for Pleasure

Reading and Writing for Pleasure

Our 2020-2023 Literacy Special Initiative funded charities working with children in London to develop literacy skills by promoting reading and writing for pleasure.

Alongside this we commissioned the Open University as our learning partner to establish:

“The approaches that seem to be effective in inspiring and encouraging children and young people to read and/or write for pleasure.”

The OU undertook a review of existing research literatures on reading and writing for pleasure, identified themes within, and synergies across, these reviews in relation to effective approaches to encourage reading and writing for pleasure for 5–13-year-olds. From this research the OU created a practice-focused Reading and Writing for Pleasure: Framework for Practice, for practitioners.

The Framework for Practice provides a research-informed basis for developing practice that nurtures young people’s reading and writing for pleasure. It draws insights from international research literature and data from six London-based literacy programmes – led by Doorstep Library , Literacy Pirates , Ministry of Stories, Primary Shakespeare Company, World Book Day and the National Literacy Trust together with the Reading Agency, that jointly led Get Islington Reading.

Click here to read the Reading and Writing for Pleasure: Framework for Practice

Click here to read Approaches to Reading and Writing for Pleasure: An Executive Summary of the Research

Click here to read The Report on the Mercers' Company Literature Special Initiative.