Why we read
Research shows that there are clear links between independent readers and academic outcomes. Our Whole School Reading Programme is designed to engage students in a love of reading, building their independent reading skills over time to advance their academic and pastoral success.
- Pupils who read well better access the curriculum
- Pupils experience more rare academic vocabulary, language structures and cultural insights when they read widely
- Reading influences knowledge, skills and vocabulary in every subject, in every discipline
Comparing the engaged reading time of 2.2 million students, studies found that reading for 15+ minutes a day provided accelerated reading gains. Results showed that students reading for 20 minutes a day were likely to score better than 90% of their peers in standardised tests. (National Center for Education Statistics).
When we read
Form tutors across years 7 to 10 read aloud with their tutor group three days a week, every week for 20 minutes with students following the reading with a reading ruler (seeing as well as hearing the words) in their own loaned copy of the text.
What do we read?
The books that we select are always age appropriate, suitably challenging and reflect our school community. They are an important part of all students’ cultural capital, broadening minds and expanding horizons. Our Tutor Time Reading Programme texts are read on a rota system with students in each year group reading 6 texts across the academic year, alongside texts studied through the curriculum.