Mrs Graves (Head of English)

The biggest question English teachers get asked by both parents and students is definitely: what can students read to help them make progress? Particularly as students progress through Years 7, 8 and 9, it can be tricky to find texts that are challenging, engaging and suitable for the age range, especially for more voracious readers. Therefore, we have been very excited to launch to the students a new reading scheme which supports readers with stepping beyond their comfort zone and into the amazing worlds that books can open up. 

Students are excited to get started. Rather than suggested reading lists, this reading scheme contains a range of tasks which students can work their way through. The tasks range from reading classics, to prize winning novels, but also include poetry, newspaper articles, plays and short stories amongst their text types. Students are encouraged to take autonomy in completing tasks.  

Aptly named, Read to Succeed, the scheme has been designed to help support all of our students with developing their vocabulary, summary skills and reflective practices, as well as encouraging them to engage with a range of text types that they might encounter at GCSE. Quite apart from exam preparation though, we hope that students will be able to use the scheme as a way to maintain and prioritise reading within their busy lives.

Students have access to a classroom code to sign up and start reading over the half term holidays.