OU Reading for Pleasure Conference

Resource type: Conference or Trade Show

Price band: £

Key stage: KS1, KS2

Region(s): England - South East

The next OU Reading for Pleasure Conference will take place on Saturday 17th October 2026 at The Open University in Milton Keynes. The theme for the autumn conference is Re-imagining Reading Communities.

Through keynote presentations and workshops led by members of the OURfP team and expert practitioners, delegates will have the opportunity to explore the social and relational aspects of reading, with research-informed strategies to help build and nurture strong reading communities within their schools and beyond the school gates.

Keynote speakers

Rachel Levy, Professor of Literacy, Institute of Education, University College, London.
Anna Harrison, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Roehampton University.
Mel Taylor-Bessent, best-selling children’s author and founder of award-winning literacy platform Authorfy.
Bethan Woolvin, award-winning children’s author and illustrator.

Choose from a programme of workshops:

Home-school Reading Communities
Re-igniting Reading Aloud from EY to KS2
Book Talk and Belonging: Networks that sustain readers
Building a Buzz: Growing adult reading communities
Pathways and Partnerships to Social Reading
Creating Spaces for Readers: Nurturing reader identity

Cost: £60, lunch and refreshments included.

About The Open University: The Open University provides world-leading, flexible, part-time study, supported distance and open learning for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Further resources:

More from the OU Reading for Pleasure team

Read the Reading and Writing for Pleasure: A Framework for Practice report, the result of a three-year research project examining the most effective ways to encourage children and young people to read and/or write for pleasure.
Explore the OU Reading for Pleasure website for the latest research on Reading for Pleasure pedagogy and examples of practice from schools across the country.
The OU Reading School s Programme is a year-long CPD programme designed to help schools implement a whole-school reading for pleasure strategy for primary and KS3 pupils.

More to explore