Boost Reading in Schools with the Winter Mini Challenge

Why the Winter Mini Challenge matters 

The Winter Mini Challenge is a free reading challenge that encourages children to keep up reading habits between December and February. With rewards for reaching their reading goal, it’s a fantastic confidence boost!  

Schools are ideal places to support this Challenge, as they provide structured environments where children can be motivated by their teachers and friends to explore new books and develop positive reading habits. Taking part at the start of a new term can reignite children’s love for reading and stories after the holiday break and set a positive tone for learning.  

Read some of the top insights from schools and see how you can boost reading in your classroom.

Inspiring classroom activities from schools 

Last year, teachers across the country took part in our reading display competition, creating vibrant, book-themed displays to encourage pupils to take part in the Winter Mini Challenge. Here’s what some of them had to say about their activities: 

“We asked children to become Reading Champions to promote reading to other children in school. They are like reading ambassadors and they give recommended reads in celebration assemblies on a Friday. The English lead teacher also always gives a recommended read for the week which the children can then borrow and read themselves.  

Every door in school has a “___ has been reading,” display card where the adults in school, from the headteacher, class teachers and teaching assistants to the caretaker and kitchen staff, display the books, magazines or other texts that we have been reading to show that everyone reads in one form or another.
– Christ Church C of E Primary School, North Shields 

“We did the Summer Reading Challenge last year and children sent in photos of themselves reading in interesting places. We had a lot of engagement from this and used the Winter Mini Challenge as a way to encourage reading for pleasure. We launched it with photos of the staff team reading picture books for pleasure and set it as a Home Learning challenge across the school to complete the challenge and send in photos of reading if they would like to show their class/teachers a recommended read.  

In classes, children shared photos on our Seesaw App with their class and talked about the books they were reading. This was to share book recommendations and encourage a culture where reading is celebrated.” 
–  Fleetville Infant School, Hertfordshire 

The positive impact on pupils 

Last year, teachers shared how taking part in the Winter Mini Challenge had a noticeable impact on their pupils’ attitudes towards reading. Here are some of the benefits they highlighted: 

“Giving the children ownership and control of the [reading] display has really engaged them with their reading and with the culture we are trying to develop in school. A lot of children are stopping in the corridor every time a new review pops up and seeing what others have been reading during the Challenge.” 
– Christ Church C of E Primary School, North Shields 

“The display is colourful and eye-catching. Reading is really interesting and it gives you a wide variety of stories. It’s useful to hear others’ recommended reads in assembly and from the display and it’s a great way to get everyone involved in reading. The Winter Mini Challenge is a fun way of introducing reading and using the library for people who might not be able to engage with reading.”  
– Year 6 student, Christ Church C of E Primary School, North Shields 

Fleetville Infant School shared some examples of their pupil’s book reviews: 

“We asked for three words to describe the book they read, and it was amazing how many of them wrote the word exciting as one of their choices, as well as funny and interesting.” 
– Highwood Primary School, Wokingham  

Libraries as community partners 

Schools reported engaging with their local libraries as part of the Winter Mini Challenge. These partnerships help children discover new books and engage with their wider community. 

“During the Winter Mini Challenge I tried to recommend as many books from the local library as I could, to encourage the children to use the library themselves and show that there are books for every taste in the libraries.”  
– Christ Church C of E Primary School, North Shields 

“We encouraged the children to use the local library and talked about the Summer Reading Challenge and the visit we had from the librarians to launch the challenge.”  
– Fleetville Infant School, Hertfordshire 

Libraries play a crucial role in supporting children’s literacy journeys, offering free access to books and fostering a love for reading.  

Looking ahead to future challenges 

Teachers shared that their schools were looking forward to future reading challenges, including the Summer Reading Challenge. The Winter Mini Challenge acts as a bridge between the two, keeping reading momentum going throughout the year. 

“We will be encouraging the children to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge and hopefully be scheduling in a visit to and from the local library to promote this. It will be mentioned regularly in whole school assemblies closer to the time and our English lead will be putting up the posters and signposting how to take part.”  
– Christ Church C of E Primary School, North Shields 

We encourage schools to sign up for both Challenges to make reading for pleasure a year-round priority. 

Join the Winter Mini Challenge today 

The Winter Mini Challenge offers a wonderful opportunity for schools to foster a love of reading in their pupils during the winter months. From creating inspiring displays to visiting local libraries, there are countless ways to get involved and make reading fun and engaging. 

Join today and help your pupils keep their reading spark alive this winter! 

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