Teach-Primary-Essential-School-Resource-2025-2026

Responding to concerns over the reported decline in children’s voluntary reading necessitates engaging and meaningful support to promote reading conversations and document individual reading journeys. ABOUT US: NAME: JUST IMAGINE The Reading Journey promotes ‘Reading for Pleasure’ and revolutionises reading records. This digital application offers a user- friendly and appealing interface for children, as well as a time-saving monitoring dashboard for teachers. WILL IT WORK FOR YOU? • A simple, easy-to-use solution for recording independent reading • Underpinned by an understanding of Reading for Pleasure principles • The Reading Journey is developed and tested with over 300 teachers and children • Cost-effective with a low-cost annual subscription for unlimited users in schools Talking About: THE READING JOURNEY FROM JUST IMAGINE How does it promote reading for pleasure? Children build their reading identities with a personalised bookshelf and an avatar that reflects their reading preferences. A class presentation view makes it easy for the whole class to see each other’s book choices. It facilitates the sharing of children’s favourite books and can be used as a tool to enhance ‘Book Talk’, which is central to a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ pedagogy. Test teachers loved this feature. It includes an online journal with an audio option, enabling children to record their responses to their reading material. No more lost or damaged reading record books! How can teachers monitor progress? The teacher dashboard provides an at-a-glance view of children’s recent reading activity. A one-page view makes it easy to view all pupils’ latest journal entries without having to flip through individual record books. Teachers can also enable features such as parent commenting and end-of-book tasks. Additionally, teachers have the option to record professional notes. How do teachers motivate and engage children? Teachers can communicate via the messaging facility. When time is short, a quick tick sends a friendly, encouraging message to the child. Teachers can choose to send more specific guidance or encouragement. Optionally, they may decide to award badges for positive reading behaviour, for example, being an adventurous reader or a resilient reader. Testing teachers found the children responded positively to this. Sam Creighton, teacher at Elmhurst Primary School in Newham, said:“The children enjoyed receiving feedback and badges.” Can it be used for reading at home? Yes, children are encouraged to record their home reading. The optional parent messaging feature allows families to communicate quickly and easily with their child’s teacher, using a drop- down menu or a text messaging option. What does support look like? Take advantage of the free webinars from Just Imagine that provide practical support for teachers seeking to develop their ‘Reading for Pleasure’pedagogy. Hosted by Nikki Gamble, author of Exploring Children’s Literature and co-author of Guiding Readers . Contact: Visit: thereadingjourney. co.uk/ Email: assistant@ justimagine.co.uk LOVE... WHY I 4 | www.teachwire.net E S S ENT I A L SCHOO L RE S OURC E S 2 0 2 5 / 2 6