What's new with Reading Schools this school year?

• You particularly asked about reading recommendations. You can find our carefully curated book lists on the main Scottish Book Trust site, which are regularly updated and can be filtered by genre, themes and age suitability. 

• You asked about age suitability of Authors Live. The on demand library can be filtered by age group, curriculum area, theme and audience type, and you can check out our guide to making the most of Authors Live to maximise your participation! 

• We have updated the framework wording to provide greater clarity on key themes and to further recognise the diversity and culture of our schools. Reading Schools operates within the values of Scottish Book Trust, and shares the commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion.  

• We refreshed our FAQs to help further with your most commonly asked queries and are always happy to help if you get in touch with us!

• Reading Schools resources are now even easier to browse! You can filter your search by key word, framework key area, resource type and accreditation level.

• The learner, staff and family attitude surveys are now available as digitally accessible Microsoft Forms templates. You can duplicate the template, customise the questions, and collect and analyse your responses online.  

• We’ve created new webinar guides to cover the key tips and tricks of our website, perfect for getting started with our website and resources or a handy guide to managing your application. You can quickly refer to the precise section you need at any moment with our convenient chapter markers on each video!

• You can now filter Scottish Book Trust learning resources for the Reading Schools programme, and further by curriculum area, theme, and recommended age group.

• Evidence Plan content lists are now downloadable at any point, allowing you to keep track of evidence you have already uploaded. Simply go to your Dashboard and click the ‘download’ symbol in the Evidence Plan panel. This will appear as soon as your Action Plan has been approved.

• We have made it clearer on the framework what is expected in terms of evidence upload. You should Comment on all actions you have chosen but each section also requires a variety of Photos and Quotes. How much you share with us is up to you but the more you share, the clearer your reading culture comes through for us!

  • For reference on our mandatory Evidence types:
    • Comment – Your description, context and reflections on the activity that has taken place, in reference to those selected on your Action Plan.
    • Quote – Something that a person (adult or child, staff or learner, school community or community partner) has said, showing engagement or reflection on the activity.
    • Photo – An image of the activity, ideally showing a range of learners across your school and uploaded with a descriptive file name to let us know the context.

• You can always review our privacy policy for reassurance that the content you upload to our website is only visible to approved website administrators for the purposes of reviewing evidence for accreditation. We love to share ideas, activities and creativity from our Reading Schools, but will only ever use your materials publicly after contacting you to arrange appropriate permissions!

• For demonstrations of how to use your Dashboard, you can quickly refer to our webinar short on starting and managing an application at any time or contact us for further assistance.

Following the success of our Shared Practice events and your enthusiastic requests for more, we have been excited to promote a number of new ways for schools to share experience, ideas and activity happening across Scotland. This includes:

• A growing library of school case studies on our website (filter by type: ‘Case study’).

• Promotion of #ReadingSchools and @scottishbktrust to engage with us across social media platforms.

• Creation of a popular Community Builder e-zine focusing on a key area or theme each edition, featuring images and films from schools across the country who share their #ReadingSchools journey. This is regularly sent by email to any user who has been active on their dashboard in past 12 months. You can also view previous editions on our website (filter by type: ‘Community’).

• Our live Map allows schools to find neighbouring Reading Schools, and we encourage you to form links within your communities as you work on your reading journeys together.

• Developing a new ‘Reading Schools Clusters’ award to recognise associated school groups who work together on their Reading Schools journey, creating locally supported reading communities.

• New range of CLPL with a focus on sharing ideas and peer-to-peer support, divided into relevant modules to guide you through the journey – no matter which stage you are joining us at. You can also join our Drop-in sessions throughout the year for support with any questions and have the opportunity to speak with both our team and learning professionals from other schools.

We are committed to including the voice and experiences of children and young people in the Reading Schools journey, and are developing template resources that help to meaningfully involve pupils throughout the process.

• We are developing PowerPoint templates for use by the Reading Leadership Group to explore and discuss the Action Plan. These will be available at Core, Silver and Gold levels for both Primary and Secondary groups.

• We will be adding a PowerPoint template as a starter for use in assemblies, to share the importance of Reading for Pleasure and your Reading Schools plans with the whole school.

• This year, our Reading Schools Fund will request stronger input from your Reading Leadership Group, giving learners a meaningful voice in your Reading Schools planning.

We know how exciting it is to shout about all the amazing work taking place to build your reading cultures and progress on your Reading Schools accreditation, and we’re always looking for new ways to support this.

• We have created a new ‘welcome pack’, full of useful and fun items to promote your participation in Reading Schools with colleagues and visitors to the school. Watch out for our new Evidence Logbooks, ‘Ask Me What I’m Reading’ lanyards and pin badges arriving in your school.  These will go out to all schools who have an Action Plan approved from August 2022 onwards.

• You can download and use our new email signatures, from ‘working towards Reading Schools’ to celebrating each accreditation level you achieve. These are emailed out to your Lead Contact after your Action or Evidence Plan is approved.