The beginning of a new school year is tough enough already: as well as the excitement of seeing all their friends again, there’s no small amount of nervousness – a whole new year of learning lies ahead, and students are aware there’s going to be a step up. 

That’s why it’s so important that literacy challenges don’t derail learning at the start of the new school year. And unfortunately, that happens all too often: research shows that students lose up to 20% of the previous school year’s reading and learning gains during the long summer holidays. And that summer slide becomes a problem on their return to class in September: instead of being ready for a new school year full of learning, developing and preparing for testing, they’re starting at a deficit. Think of it as running a race on Sports Day, but your personal starting line is twenty metres behind everybody else, and the finish line (let’s call it SATs, or GCSEs) is still in the exact same place, with the same amount of hurdles between you and it. 

It's not fair, and it’s definitely not easy to come back from a start that’s 20 metres behind the ones your peers are starting from.  

So what can we do about it?  

Hacking reading for a new school year is an essential part of back to school prep… 

…and you can start as soon as the school bell rings for the end of the old term. 

The trick is to keep kids reading. But we know that’s easier said than done: when the start of the new school year feels light years away and they’ve just finished three terms of reading, writing and forgetting their PE kit, summer feels like a golden opportunity to relax and unwind. Books probably aren’t the first thing on many students’ minds, which is all the more likely, considering that this year’s data from the National Literacy Trust shows the lowest ever percentage of students reporting that they enjoy reading in their spare time, and the lowest ever percentage reporting that they read something daily.  

And especially if students have dyslexia or other reading needs, reading can begin to feel like hard work when it’s happening in an environment where teachers or learning support professionals aren’t on hand to help. But these are the students for whom it’s most important to keep reading ticking over during the long summer holidays: when you’ve got reading needs already, returning for the new school and having to navigate the unfortunate double of summer slide and Special Educational Needs (SEN) can manifest as a steep slope.  

So what can we do to make sure that students are headed back for the new school year with as many chances as possible to really make learning work, and beat summer literacy loss before it can compromise learning futures?  

Explain why it’s so important  

Kids are smart. And they don’t enjoy struggling in class very much, especially in front of new peers if they’ve changed schools or changed stages. So reading over summer may be an easier sell than you’ve anticipated, especially if you take the time to explain to them exactly why it’s so important they do so. Just try it: chances are, they might be more receptive to the idea, especially if you take time to help them implement a few things to help beat the summer slide and make summer reading more fun. 

Being able to bypass those feelings of overwhelm and confusion at the start of the new school year is a great way of ensuring that everything starts off on the right footing and that reading, learning and developing new skills are easier going forwards, As ever, early intervention is everything – and you can apply that logic to summer reading.   

Get hold of September’s reading materials early 

This one’s more for secondary students, but those in primary school may benefit from it too – it all depends on how they’re studying, and how that particular curriculum interacts with set texts.  

There’s nothing worse than heading back to English lessons for the new school year and being faced with a dusty old tome that feels as readable as Linear A. But it doesn’t have to be that way: if you know what books they’ll need to know next term, there’s never been a better time to get started with them than the summer before the September term! 

Working through tricky books together, developing an understanding of them when they’re not ‘on show’ in front of the whole class, and experiencing them for the first time alongside a YouTube study guide can be a great way of dialling down the drama of facing a new text. It’s going to be a lot easier to engage, learn, and develop the understanding required to pass the exam when they hit the classroom if they already kind-of know what’s coming, and there’s a chance they’ll be able to support their peers.  

But if they do get to grips with the set texts over summer, make sure they remember: no giving out spoilers! – sometimes, the best moments in reading or drama are when you’re suddenly faced with a bit of story you weren’t expecting, and the narrative takes a turn.  

Let the rest of the class have the chance to experience it just as they did!  

It might sound a bit weird… but put the TV on.  

When you’re reading a new piece of literature, especially one that’s a little old-fashioned or complicated, it’s easy to get a little lost when it comes to what’s actually happening – especially if you’ve got reading needs like dyslexia in play. But watching a TV, stage or film adaptation of that text to start with can really support burgeoning understandings of a play or a novel, and help learners with reading needs to overcome initial fears around the text and bridge any initial comprehension gaps that may have started to emerge. It’s all about breaking down barriers, and making the text feel possible, and being able to experience it in another, more accessible medium might be able to do just that.  

Just make sure that by the time exam season rolls around, learners have developed a strong understanding of the text itself and know all the places in which the text and the film or TV version differ: just because a scene or a phrase is in the adaptation, it doesn’t mean it was in the original novel… and getting the two confused can be a real grade compromiser.  

Try to maintain a constant level of reading  

When school time = lots of reading and summer holiday time = no reading at all, that’s where problems emerge: as well as summer slide, brains on summer mode can find the sudden September step-up a deeply stressful experience because they’ve gotten used to not reading. So one of the best ways to prep for the start of the new school year is to stop that brain gap from establishing itself by keeping reading going at least on some level all summer.  

Even if it’s as little as one big book across the whole summer holiday, or a smaller book a week, anything learners can do to keep their reading skills rolling over can be a huge part of the battle against summer slide and ensure that the start of the new school year is as stress-free as we can make it. 

Anticipate any new reading issues, and look for the right support  

Are the learners in your life stepping up in stages, or starting a new subject renowned for long, tricky words and high-level concepts (yes, we’re looking at you, biology and chemistry…)? 

There’s nothing worse than taking your first steps into GCSE or A-Level study and finding yourself faced with a reading barrier – but terms like osmoregulation, stoichiometry and immunoglobulin just keep coming. But not all reading support is created equal when it comes to this kind of technical terminology: some just won’t be able to cope with reading and defining subject-specific lexis, so researching tools that can cope with that kind of step-up can be a worthwhile summer pursuit, so learners can avoid months of trial-and-error and immediately know what to ask for in September.  

Not really a research kind of guy, or pressed for time? That’s fine: because we’re good sorts, we’ll just let you know that C-Pen Reader 3’s online definition function is perfectly placed to support young doctors, scientists and other technical sorts as they move into harder words and more complex study.  

You’re welcome.  

Make a summer of reading accessible for all with Fonetti! 

“We started the National Read-Aloud Challenge to make reading accessible for every child – especially over the summer, when many fall behind. We offer Fonetti free during the holidays, and by partnering with like-minded businesses to help spread the word, we’re sparking a love for reading and driving lasting change." 

Kim Antoniou, Founder of Fonetti 

Get ready for the UK’s biggest summer reading adventure: the National Read-Aloud Challenge is back for its third and most ambitious year yet. Whether through school or at home, every child in the UK can take part completely free of charge, AND enjoy two months of Fonetti! 

The National Read-Aloud Challenge is a powerful, free summer initiative that transforms reading into a fun, confidence-boosting journey for children everywhere, whether they’re guided on that journey by their schools or their parents. 

And there are prizes! 

At the heart of the challenge is Fonetti: an award-winning read-aloud app with instant feedback, powered by our unique, patented automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology, developed specifically for reading. As children read aloud, Fonetti listens in real time, encouraging, correcting, and celebrating progress with every page. 

➡️ Head to Fonetti’s National Read-Aloud Challenge hub for more information, and how to join in on a summer full of reading fun! 

📚 This summer can be the one where reading takes centre stage! 

With a little reading prep work, the National Read-Aloud Challenge and tools like Fonetti, every child has the chance to build confidence, keep their reading skills rolling over, and head into the new school year this September with a little more confidence than the ones that came before it.  

So whether it’s a comic book on the couch, a bedtime story with Fonetti, or decoding a tricky bit of science with Reader 3. Let’s turn every page into real reading progress!