All Carey students in Years 7 to 9 were asked to complete a reading survey in March 2025 with the help of their English teachers. 587 students participated in the survey.
The survey was designed to investigate how our students use their leisure time, particularly their engagement in passive recreational activities such as reading, social media, video games, television, movies and YouTube. We were interested to discover what statements could be made about our students and their engagement in reading. The design of the survey was heavily influenced by the Australian Teen Reading Survey.
We learnt that our students reported stronger engagement in reading on all counts than the Australian average. This included the number of days spent reading each week, how much time they read in a session, with Year 7s generally showing stronger engagement overall. Passive activities like time spent on social media and watching television, movies and YouTube featured more prominently as the students moved into Year 8 and Year 9.
More than half of the students reported that they read for enjoyment, relaxation and escape, with the next biggest categories being because it was a homework task or because parents made them. A good number of students reported reading more in the holidays away from the pressures of homework and the timetable of co-curricular activities etc, but a good proportion were clearly having a break from their homework task.
Students who claimed not to like reading mostly suggested they preferred physical activities, that books weren’t interesting or that they had trouble concentrating for long enough with a small percentage saying it was difficult. When asked what stops them from reading more, having not enough time and preferring other activities were the most likely responses.
The majority of students preferred reading fiction, but boys in Year 7 and Year 9 showed the strongest interest in non-fiction. Graphic novels were enjoyed the most by Year 7.
Recommendations from friends and family featured strongly when choosing what to read. Online platforms were influential in girls’ book choices more so than boys, with the library staff suggestions and displays in the library also being significantly influential. Students reported that parents, grandparents and friends all read books and recommended reading.
The results of this survey indicate that the following strategies adopted by English teachers and library staff have had a positive impact on Carey students’ engagement in reading, and that parents and families have encouraged their children to read and set up valuable routines to help them enjoy their reading:
- Regular readings sessions in the library and English teachers taking an active interest in students’ reading choices and engagement.
- Dedicated and regular reading at the start of English periods to establish reading habits and maximise reading time.
- Use of a Reading Journal at Year 7 to help establish a good reading routine at home.
- Consistent involvement of passionate and well-trained library staff in the wide reading program who actively promote Australian writers and are mindful of prioritising and engaging disinterested students.
- Specific reading assessments, which promote and encourage student sharing of their reading, results in the reluctant and ‘sometimes’ readers finishing a book and reporting, ‘it was actually a good book’.
- The annual literature festival, which brings published writers into the classroom, creating excitement, a celebration of Australian writing and stronger engagement in reading Australian writers.
- Library collection development to accommodate reluctant readers (high interest non-fiction) and students with special needs (dyslexic collection and eBooks and audiobooks).
Over the 25 years I have been a teacher librarian, I have often heard a reluctant reader say something like, ‘that was actually a good book’. Surprise, surprise… if we just open ourselves to the pages of a book, to the experience of a story, writers will usually deliver. Setting aside time for this valuable but nowadays often undervalued activity has enormous benefits as stories connect us with others and help us understand the world we live in.
I am very glad reading is still valued at Carey and by its families. I have worked at Carey for just over sixteen years and enjoyed so much about working at this school – the wonderful staff and students, the many fantastic programs like sport, outdoor education, the performing arts, and working in a truly fantastic library.
Marg Moran
Head of Carey Libraries
