How Bookbuzz supports transition from primary to secondary school

The transition from primary to secondary school can be a challenging time for students.

With lots of changes to get used to and new environments, it can be a time when reading is impacted, and when it’s hard to maintain the momentum that primary schools have created in students’ reading enjoyment and development.

Bookbuzz supports the transition into Year 7 by providing a ready-made package of books and resources that can be used in the library or classroom to build a reading for pleasure culture, right from transition.

It’s a great way to show students that you are a school that values and prioritises reading from the outset.

One school who has been using Bookbuzz for many years at transition tells us more:

“I think it’s really important to make new Year 7 students feel safe and welcomed, and part of a community when they arrive.

The reading for pleasure pedagogy talks about reading as a social experience and the importance of having a community of readers. Bookbuzz really helps us to do that.

We can have conversations about ‘What chapter are you on’, ‘Did you love that bit’, ‘Did you see that happening?’. We can speak to students on an informal social level, which really sparks that love for reading.”

- English teacher

Another explains how they use Bookbuzz as part of their Year 6 school visits:

“When Year 6 students come for their transition visit, we always make sure that they see the library as part of their tour. We tell them that we are a reading school and that we love reading.

We explain that we do Bookbuzz and that the students can look forward to finding out about it when they come in September. It really helps to start building the excitement.”

– School Librarian

A KS3 curriculum lead tells us how they use Bookbuzz to open up conversations with the students:

“Each year Bookbuzz gives us a collection of books that the students know about as a group and can ‘own’. We can have conversations about the storylines or the characters and it provides a safe space for talking about stuff that's quite revealing about somebody's personality, without actually getting into anything that is too personal. It helps us to form a connection.”

With many recent research findings showing that reading enjoyment is in decline, taking the time to use Bookbuzz at the start of Year 7 to embed positive associations with reading will pay dividends for the future.