Teach-Reading-and-Writing-Issue-22

A WINNING CLASSROOM Even if you don’t have the opportunity to be a teacher judge, here are a few ways you can bring the magic of book awards into your classroom... Shadow a book award Reading a whole longlist or shortlist will introduce you to great books you might not otherwise have read. In addition to the UKLA Book Awards, there are plenty to choose from, including local book awards and subject-specific awards, such as the Young Quills Award for historical fiction or the Royal Society’s Young People’s Book Prize for children’s science books. Read outside your age group One of the most exciting parts of the UKLA Book Awards is when our final panellists read the shortlisted books in all four categories. Reading books aimed at readers from EYFS to secondary can offer a much more holistic understanding of young people’s development as readers. Connect with teachers from other schools to talk about books Find out more about how other schools promote reading for pleasure and discover new recommendations. This could be through an OU/UKLA Teacher Reading Group, the UKLA’s monthly ‘book blethers’ online, or through a local network of teachers. Involve pupils in discussions about awards The conversations we have when judging book awards allow us to be more evaluative and more open about what we like and dislike about different books. Modelling this with young people allows them to see that they are allowed their own response to each book they read and to consider what they value most of all in a book. understand this more fully. We hear stories like this every year. Pupil-led decisions Although teachers judge this award, they are absolutely informed by their pupils’ responses to the books. Teachers are transparent about their roles as judges, and invite honest feedback from pupils. The children share in the excitement, particularly when they discover that their teachers will have the opportunity to meet the authors of their favourite books. Just as important as the books themselves are the discussions with fellow teacher judges. All teacher judges belong to a small group of teachers from different schools with whom they meet monthly. Reading twenty books together between September and March allows strong bonds to form within the group, particularly when many of the books address challenging issues, and group members get to know each other as both teachers and readers. There is a real joy to be found in discussing books with such attentive readers, and by the end of the process it can often feel like you have spent time in each other’s classrooms. As one of the Awards’ founders, Lynda Graham, says: “Something happens in these groups that is quite remarkable. In every group I’ve led, teachers begin to share their own emotional responses to their reading and to make connections with their own lives and own lived experiences. These affective responses lead them to share books honestly with pupils, to begin to know which books might matter to their pupils. They talk about ways they are sharing in schools – and teachers do ‘borrow shamelessly’ – taking and building on good ideas from each other. These discussions are at the heart of the UKLA Book Awards.” The impact extends far beyond the Book Awards themselves, and many teacher judges describe the lasting effects on their teaching and reading habits. Some who had not previously read any children’s or YA fiction for pleasure now do so regularly; others describe becoming the ‘go-to’ person in their school or department for recommendations. UKLA achieves its goal of improving literacy education by creating a supportive community for those working in literacy, language and communication. The longlists for the 2026 Book Awards can be viewed at tinyurl.com/ tp-UKLA-longlist Nikki Gamble is the director of Just Imagine and provides consultancy and training in schools in the UK and internationally. Stephen Dilley has been a secondary English teacher for 16 years and is currently head of English at Kendrick School, Reading. He is part of the UKLA Book Awards team and the Just Imagine review panel and was an associate teacher with the English &Media Centre for 2024–25. www.teachwire.net | 19 T E ACH I NG T E CHN I QUE S