Take 10 To Read Challenge

Resource type: Projects, programmes and workshops

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS2, KS3

Region(s): All of UK

The Take Ten to Read Challenge is an annual campaign that highlights the link between reading for pleasure and positive mental wellbeing. It takes place on World Mental Health Day on 10th October.

The challenge encourages everyone to stop and take the time to read for ten minutes. All forms of reading are encouraged – it could be a storybook, a book of non-fiction, a comic or a magazine.

To support the challenge, the National Literacy Trust is running three virtual events for pupils aged 3-13 on 10th October:

KS1 Pupils (ages 3-16): Take 10 with Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet
KS2 Pupils (ages 6-9): Take 10 with Natalie Denny
KS3 Pupils (ages 9-13): Take 10 with A.F. Steadman

Cost: Free with registration.

About National Literacy Trust: NLT is an independent literacy charity working with schools and communities to give disadvantaged children the literacy skills to succeed in life. The charity runs literacy programmes, CPD training courses for teachers, and provides online resources and tools to its members. It also undertakes research into all aspects of literacy and campaigns to raise awareness of literacy issues.

Further resources:

Award-winning author Ian Eagleton will be talking about his own experiences and introducing his latest title The Boy Who Cried Ghost, a life-affirming story about friendship and living with OCD, in a Scholastic Schools Live event for World Mental Health Day on 10th October.
Watch World Book Day’s Overcoming Barriers to Reading for Pleasure webinar and vlog series, created in partnership with the Reading for Pleasure team at the Open University, for ideas on how to encourage all young people to read for pleasure.
Get tips on how to support teenagers’ reading enjoyment and engagement in this summary of the findings from The Young People’s Reading Project, a research collaboration between Scottish Book Trust and the University of Edinburgh.
Help younger readers choose books that will match their reading interests and abilities with this poster and fun animation from the National Literacy Trust.
Encourage young readers to read more widely with the ‘Branching Out’ and ‘Book Match’ booklists and posters from Books for Topics and The Reading Teacher.
Children who are the most engaged with literacy are three times more likely to have higher levels of mental wellbeing than children who are the least engaged, according to a 2018 report from the National Literacy Trust. Read the full report here.
Find more resources to promote empathy and support pupils’ mental health in our Mental Health and Empathy section of the Literacy Hive website.