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Meadowhead School

Meadowhead SchoolAcademy Trust

Reading for Pleasure

"Books say: She did this because.....   Life says: She did this.   Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't.  I'm not surprised some people prefer books.  Books make sense of life.  The only problem is that the lives they make sense of are other people's lives, never your own." 

Flaubert's Parrot by John Barnes, Man Booker Prize Winner 

 

Our reading curriculumprivate reading

Our aim is to open up the world of books to students, foster a love of reading and create a reading community.

  • We provide opportunities for independent reading.
  • We celebrate reading through competitions and events.
  • We share our reading experiences.
  • We guide students in their book choices.
  • We challenge students to read widely

Independent reading

During morning registration, we have slots dedicated to reading for pleasure for years 7-9. Students are guided and supported in their reading choices.

Celebrating reading

We celebrate reading throughout the year and also hold special events including author visits, Poetry Day and World Book Day celebrations.  We promote reading around topical national events such as Black History Month, Holocaust Memorial Day and Pride Month.  We are part of the BookBuzz reading programme from Booktrust which enables our students in Year 7 to choose a free book in the Autumn Term. 

Students enjoy taking part in Readathon and competitions such as 'Find Food in Fiction' library challenge and 'Reading Mazes' to discover what the teachers are reading.

Sharing reading experiences and being a community of readers

As a school, we want to inspire students to read a variety of books and share our reading experiences. One way we do this is through DEAL (Drop Everything And Listen). As part of our reading curriculum, we have introduced DEAL in Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 during our dedicated reading time in the morning form time. This is an opportunity for a class to enjoy and discuss a book together with their form tutor. 

book cover - ghost boys

Book cover of Boy 87

book cover 

Staff share posters of what they are reading, with an invitation to 'Ask me about it'.

Providing guidance and support

  • Reading lists / book recommendations (click HERE)
  • Library Inductions
  • Reading mentors
  • Book of the Week

English lessons

See our English curriculum pages (HERE) to find out which books we study as a part of English lessons and discover what 'fast read' is.

In addition to texts we study in English Literature, we also read a contemporary book in Y7-9 English lessons where the focus is on developing reading skills: enhancing background knowledge, developing a broad vocabulary and developing inference. 

book cover

Year 7 

 book cover

Year 8 

book cover of purple hibiscus

Year 9 

 
 

 

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

- Dr. Seuss