If reading for pleasure is key to writing, has COVID-19 changed the lock?

been recognised. This study, situated within a relativist ontology and interpretivist epistemology, explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on reading in primary schools, and considered the potential impact on pupils’ wider academic achievement, wellbeing and life chances, given the disruption to school opening in the UK and the subsequent changes to priorities and pedagogies in the post-pandemic landscape. A mixed-methods approach, falling within the realms of ethnography and phenomenology, was used to collect data from primary teachers and school leaders in several north London boroughs, using online questionnaires and interviews. Content analysis of questionnaire responses and interview transcripts suggests that post-pandemic, teachers and leaders were most concerned about attainment and access to texts, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, with widening gaps in reading fluency and comprehension competing with gaps in other areas of the curriculum for priority in the school timetable. An increased focus on the teaching of the skills of reading and writing in participants’ schools, through rigorous teaching of phonics, grammar and punctuation, as well as comprehension strategies, has led, in some cases, to a somewhat decreased focus on activities associated with reading for pleasure, such as the class story, library visits, time for independent reading and talking about books. This could lead to impacts on pupils’ writing, future academic success, wellbeing and life chances and has implications for school leaders and also for teacher educators in designing Initial Teacher Education course content.