During the summer term, some of you have told us that you would like some reading recommendations for over the summer break. While we wanted to encourage everyone to take a proper break from work, we also wanted to support those of you who would like to delve deeper into educational topics of interest.

We therefore shared some ‘top pick’ books, including new release publications, that were suggested by our Members across our social channels and via email to the Chartered College team. We hoped that these recommendations offered an opportunity to enhance your understanding of educational theory, perhaps between your other planned John Green or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie summer reads. Read on to see what was recommended this year!

 

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The first of our summer reading recommendations was ‘Take Action on Distraction‘ by Dr Gemma Goldenberg FCCT and Professor Sam Wass.

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The next of our summer reading recommendations was ‘Disciplinary literacy in primary schools: Reading, writing and speaking across the curriculum‘ by Shareen Wilkinson FCCT.

A Member of the Chartered College and want to purchase this book? Login to MyCollege to access your 25% discount for John Catt Publications [Hachette Learning].

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The next of our summer reading recommendations was ‘Creating an Anti-Racist Curriculum for Children with Special Educational Needs‘ by Priya Bhagrath.

A Member of the Chartered College and want to purchase this book? Login to MyCollege to access your 20% discount for Routledge.

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Our fourth summer reading recommendations was ‘Preserving Positivity: Choosing to stay in the classroom and banishing a negative mindset‘ by Dr Haili Hughes FCCT.

A Member of the Chartered College and want to purchase this book? Login to MyCollege to access your 25% discount for John Catt Publications [Hachette Learning].

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The next of our summer reading recommendations was ‘Why Don’t Students Like School?‘ by Daniel Willingham.

Here’s what Shuna Neave MCCT said about their recommendation:

“a very readable and enjoyable exploration of learning, as well as a brilliant introduction to cognitive science for teachers”.

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The next of our summer reading recommendations was ‘Understanding and Teaching Reading Comprehension: A handbook‘ by Jane Oakhill, Kate Cain and Carsten Elbro.

Megan Dixon MCCT, recommended this book and said this about it:

“This book is the definitive book on reading comprehension, written by the researchers themselves. Everyone who works with children, regardless of their age, is a teacher of reading. The more we all understand, the better we will be at ensuring all students learn to read and can read to learn.”

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Our seventh summer reading recommendations was ‘Small and mighty: Conversations about small schools‘ by Aimee Tinkler FCCT.

A Member of the Chartered College and want to purchase this book? Login to MyCollege to access your 25% discount for John Catt Publications [Hachette Learning].

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The next of our summer reading recommendations was ‘What Happy Teachers Do‘ by Michelle Auton.

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The next of our summer reading recommendations was ‘Teaching story writing in primary‘ by Christopher Youles.

Emma Matthews MCCT, recommended this book and said this about it:

“It has completely changed how I think about planning and teaching writing. An essential read.”

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Our final summer reading recommendations was ‘From principle to practice: Evidence-informed leadership‘ by the Chartered College of Teaching, which is available from 5th September from Hachette Learning.

This book, the first in the series, aims to support senior leaders, headteachers and those working in leadership roles across multiple schools. The book is divided into two parts: Professional knowledge, including chapters on pedagogy, curriculum and assessment; and Professional practice, including chapters on inclusive culture, supporting systems and school development.

A Member of the Chartered College and want to purchase this book? Login to MyCollege to access your special 30% discount for John Catt Publications [Hachette Learning] for books in the ‘From Principle to Practice’ series.

Learn more about evidence-informed leadership including draws from the professional principles that underpin the leadership pathway to Chartered Status and hear from our incredible guest speakers, sign-up for the upcoming event here.

Bonus books

Our summer book list was overflowing with great recommendations, and even though the summer break is behind us, we didn’t want you to miss a single one, so here are are some more we think you’ll love:

• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Our member Laura Parker said: “It made me reflect on implementation and how to bring people along with me”.
• Early Career Teacher Entitlement: Great Expectations by Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope and Holly Kirkpatrick [available for pre-order now, launches on 19th September; published by John Catt, members can access a discount on MyCollege].
• The Teacher and the Teenage Brain by John Coleman [published by Routledge, members can access a discount on MyCollege].
• Teacher Recruitment, Retention and Career Progression by the Chartered College of Teaching [available November 2025].
• The A-Z of Secondary Leadership by Andy Hunter [published by John Catt, members can access a discount on MyCollege].
• Mentoring Languages Teachers in the Secondary School: A Practical Guide by Laura Molway and Professor Anna Lise Gordon [published by Routledge, members can access a discount on MyCollege].