Grant to promote a Whole School Reading Culture

 

Please note the applications for our grants to promote a Whole School Reading Culture are now closed.

As part of our work to help develop whole school reading cultures, Bookmark is offering a limited number of grants to primary schools to help them address their specific literacy needs. We have two types of grants available:  

  • Whole School Reading Culture project grant (up to £5,000)  

  • Whole School Reading Culture teacher CPD grant (up to £500) 

It’s really important to us to share best practice across the Education industry and help bring Whole School Reading Culture to every school. We want to celebrate your school’s reading culture and share your ideas and projects where possible on social media so please do tag us on socials.  

Objectives 

  • To support schools to establish their whole school reading cultures  

  • To ensure children have access to good quality reading materials and environments in their schools  

  • To support children to develop positive reading habits and attitudes towards reading 

  • To support teachers to develop the skills and knowledge they need to motivate children to read for pleasure and create a buzz around reading 

Grant-making criteria 

All applications must meet the following criteria: 

  • State-funded primary school in England and Wales 

  • Applicant must be the head teacher, member of senior leadership team, or literacy lead 

  • Must be able to demonstrate literacy need  

  • If awarded a grant, the school must submit a short interim update in July 2023 and then the corresponding reporting template for grant by 21 November 2023 with supplementary evidence including invoices/receipts for any purchases made using the grant award. Full reporting template will be set out in the grant agreement letter 

In addition, for the Whole School Reading Culture project grant: 

  • Must have a clear statement of intended impact with indicators of how this will be assessed 

  • Must have a clear and actionable plan for use of funds that will deliver the proposed impact of the project  

  • Schools must have dedicated member(s) of staff at the school leading the project to demonstrate school’s capacity to deliver the initiative  

  • If you are seeking funding for books and reading materials, you must also have a clear plan or initiative that you are intending to use to encourage children to read  

For CPD grant: 

  • Must have a clear statement of intended impact of training and how it will be implemented 

Whole School Reading Culture project grant  

We want to fund literacy initiatives that will motivate children to read for pleasure and develop a love of reading. Schools can apply for up to £5,000. Please find below examples of what we are looking to fund, however this list is by no means exhaustive.  

What we will fund 

  • Age appropriate, diverse, and up-to-date books/reading materials that encourage reading for pleasure – physical and digital, fiction and non-fiction 

  • Contributions towards library provision – IT lending software, furniture, bookshelves particularly for classroom libraries, bean bags, cushions, small equipment, signage for different genres   

  • Initiatives that create a buzz around reading i.e., author visit events, World Book Day etc 

  • Initiatives that support parents and guardians to develop the skills they need to read with their children i.e.an afterschool literacy drop-in session for both children and their parents 

  • Targeted staff costs to enable the delivery of an initiative such as Teaching Assistant running a book club or literacy drop in sessions 

  • Literacy programmes provided by other charities such as a visit from the Book Bus to get children excited about reading 

  • Groups that encourage reading, like book clubs 

What we won’t fund 

  • Non-state funded primary schools  

  • Individuals (such as external consultants) 

  • Phonics reading scheme and other schemed books 

  • General salary costs 

Teacher training grant 

We want to help teachers get the reading for pleasure training they need to facilitate whole school reading cultures. If you come across high quality training course that is free, we will consider providing funding towards the cost of teacher cover. This will still be capped at £500.  

Organisations such as the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, the National Literacy Trust, and The National Centre for Children’s Books deliver a range of Reading for Pleasure training that we would consider funding. We have also curated this list of suggested training options that we will consider funding, however this list is not exhaustive, and we will also consider funding training beyond these providers.  

We will not fund training that is curriculum based such as phonics training.  

Decision-making timeline 

Grant applications are now closed. Please keep an eye out on our social channels for our future grants.

 

You may also want to find out more about our school reading programme.