HT Reading Challenge

Encouraging Wider Reading with the HT Reading Challenge!

Students in Years 7-9 visit the Senior Library once a fortnight for a dedicated Wider Reading lesson led by a Teacher Librarian as part of the English curriculum.  This program is founded on educational research, where studies have shown a correlation between reading for pleasure and “academic success, professional accomplishment later in life, and overall satisfaction with one’s life” (Scott Zimmer, 2021). 

At Huntingtower, our Wider Reading Program focuses on promoting a diverse range of texts from across various writing styles, genres, and formats while encouraging students to develop and maintain a healthy reading habit.

In 2026, we have launched the HT Reading Challenge, designed to encourage students to further broaden their reading and discover new texts. Many of our students from Years 7-12 have eagerly embraced the challenge, showing enthusiasm to share their reading discoveries and progress.

We are sharing the HT Reading Challenge in the Bulletin to invite parents to encourage their children to get involved in the opportunity. Prizes are awarded to students who read five books to make up a row, and also to any students who successfully finish the challenge.

Recommended reading lists to assist students in completing the challenge are available on HT Connect and on the Sora reading app for ebooks and audiobooks.

Challenge guidelines:

📕A book title can only be used to mark off 1 box in the challenge

📚 Students may only claim two titles in a single series

🗓️ The Reading Challenge closes on December 1, 2026

👩🏻‍🏫 Reading must be verified by a Librarian! This involves a simple conversation about the book that has been read and how it fits within the challenge.

Families can see the challenge below, or visit HT Connect here to download a copy. 

Student reflections

The HT Reading Challenge really encouraged me to read different books from different genres that I would usually walk straight past. For example I had to read a book with ‘Heart’ in the title which made me choose a love story, and I never read love stories, to be honest it was better than I expected! As part of the Reading Challenge I’ve had to pick out a variety of books in order to complete the task. Two of the best titles I read were ‘The Goldfish Boy’, and ‘Last Chance Joey’. Both of which I didn’t feel I would like, because it wasn’t really my style, but ended up loving. 

- Claire Z. (Year 7)

Recently, the library introduced a new reading challenge where you would tick off boxes after completing the matching book. I feel that this challenge really allows us to explore and read books that we wouldn’t normally read.  One of the best books that I was encouraged to choose was titled White Rose by Kip Wilson.  This story was quite different and surprised me as I had never read a verse novel previously. Overall, I think that this challenge is great fun and highly encourage those who don't know what to read to give it a shot. 

- Austine W. (Year 8)

As a non-fiction fan, I rarely read fiction in primary school. While series like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson sat untouched on my shelf, I was reading books about the American Revolution or World War One. But the reading challenge encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone. One of the first books I read for the reading challenge was "Goodnight Mister Tom" by Michelle Magorian. It tells the heartbreaking story of a young Willie Beech as he is evacuated out of London in World War Two, and it surprised me about just how powerful fiction books can be. 

- Eason Q. (Year 7)

Bibliography:

Scott Zimmer JD (2021) ‘Sustained Silent Reading (SSR)’, EBSCO, accessed 27 May 2026. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/sports-and-leisure/sustained-silent-reading-ssr