Hackney Reading Champions and Ambassadors

What are primary reading champions and secondary reading ambassadors?

Reading champions and ambassadors are pupil leaders who raise the profile of reading within their school.

A group of Hackney schools have nominated children from Year 5 and 6 or Key Stage 3 to be Primary Reading Champions and Secondary Reading Ambassadors for their school. They meet regularly with other schools to create a network, supporting pupil voice across the borough.

The meetings include an opportunity to recommend texts and discuss their roles, learning from each other. They complete challenges to foster reading for pleasure within their school.  

The group is run by Hackney Education and Hackney Libraries.

What do the reading champions and reading ambassadors do?

The aim of the reading champions and ambassadors is to: 

• Create pupil leaders of reading who have meaningful roles in enriching the reading culture
• Promote reading in schools through a ‘peer led’ system to motivate other children to read
• Share best practice with the other Hackney reading champions and ambassadors and support each other
• Create a platform for honest pupil voice that supports L.A. and School leader decisions

How it works

The primary champions and secondary ambassadors are set challenges to complete throughout the year which support building a reading ethos. The challenges range from supporting individuals to read more to developing whole school initiatives such as reading clubs at lunchtime. 

Each online meeting has a review and sharing of ideas and we discuss progress and impact of the challenges, celebrating successes.

The best part is when the children give their recommendations. 

The impact of the Hackney Reading Champions and Ambassadors

In this video, the Hackney Reading Champions and Ambassadors talk about their experiences, what they have enjoyed and what differences they have seen in their school. We also hear from their teachers.