Explore the World of
Rooted in Reading
At Steve Willshaw Consulting, I believe passionately in the power of reading for pleasure to transform young people's lives for the better. My Rooted in Reading programme is designed to foster a love for reading, offering a unique approach to reading for pleasure through beautifully designed reading passports. Join this literary journey and discover how reading can transform your pupils' opportunities.
In many schools, reading has become a series of mechanisms and metrics. My resources are designed to reverse that trend. I believe that when a school stops just teaching reading and starts living it, student outcomes follow naturally.
Every resource I provide is built upon the four pillars of my educational philosophy.
1. Radical Simplicity: Low Friction, High Impact
I know that teacher workload is at a breaking point. My Rooted in Reading passports are the antidote to initiative overload. They are designed to make reading for pleasure visible without the burden of complex administration.
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Minimal Administration: No tech support, no complex data entry—just a beautifully designed physical record of a child’s journey.
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The "small entry" philosophy: by keeping response spaces focused and manageable, we ensure that reflecting on a book never becomes a "chore" that kills the joy of the story.
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Cost-Effective: Providing a high-impact culture shift for less than 40p per pupil.
2. Intellectual Equity: A Seat at the Table for Every Reader
Reading is the great equalizer, but only if every student is invited into the conversation. My range of 13 different passports ensures that intellectual equity is a reality from the Early Years to the Sixth Form.
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Scaffolding Up: From the "Sharing Stories and Rhymes" passport for the youngest learners to the "Critical Literacy" version for A-Level and students, Rooted in Reading provides the tools for everyone to access powerful knowledge.
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Diverse Perspectives: With prompts that encourage reading across genres, cultures, and formats (poetry, plays, non-fiction), we ensure that no child’s cultural horizons are limited.
3. Relational Agency: Building a Reading Community
Reading shouldn't be a solitary act of data processing; it is a social act of connection. These resources are designed to foster relational agency across the whole school community.
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The Teacher’s Passport: We encourage Reading Teachers to share their own recommendations, bridging the gap between staff and students.
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The Community & Transition Passports: Built on the principle of Ubuntu (I am because we are), these tools encourage pupils, parents, and teachers to respond to each other's reading, creating a shared, dialogic culture.
4. Professional Craft: Empowering the Expert Teacher
These resources are not scripts for delivery; they are tools for the professional craft of the educator.
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Coming soon - The Read Aloud Programme: supporting staff to reclaiming the art of storytelling and high-quality explanation. By mastering the craft of reading aloud, teachers strengthen pupil attention, vocabulary, and imagination.
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Research-Backed Practice: Referenced in DfE reports and supported by NATE, UKLA, and NAAE, these resources empower teachers to lead their literacy strategy with confidence and expertise.
What you can expect to gain from using
Rooted in Reading
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Savings of time and money in comparison with other more complex reading promotion programmes.
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An increase in interest in reading for pleasure in the pupils engaged in the programme.
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Improved reading skills in the form of reading ages, comprehension and inference as a result of the increased amount of reading being undertaken.
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Linked improvements in reading in all subject areas contributing to increased pupil confidence and academic performance.
Schools can order using a Purchase Order. Save a copy, complete and return it by email.
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