In addition to its academic importance, we recognise the value of reading for personal enjoyment and intellectual curiosity. Our goal is to provide all students with opportunities to engage with a wide range of texts, fostering both their functional literacy and their love of reading.

The following events provide our students with inspiring and engaging interactions with reading.

September: Library induction sessions walk our new students through how to make the most effective use of the wealth of reading materials.

September: Sessions on how to choose a book you want to read. A hurdle to reading might be not knowing what to read. In this session Miss Prestwood guides each form group through our rich and diverse reading material.

October – November: Bookbuzz. Bookbuzz is a reading programme run by the children’s charity BookTrust. It is designed to inspire a love of reading by giving our Year 7 students the opportunity to choose and keep their own free book from a curated list of titles. Students attend one session to choose their book and another to receive it.

March: World Book Day with an author visit is always highly inspiring. Especially when the staff dress up!

October: National Poetry Day

January – February: National Storytelling Week

January – March: Brilliant Book Award shadowing (a local book award for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire schools)

January – April: Excelsior Award shadowing (a graphic novel and manga book prize)

November – March: Royal Society Young People’s Book Award shadowing (a science book prize)

March – June: Our librarian, Jen Prestwood, has previously been a Carnegie judge. The Carnegie Awards are the oldest children’s book awards, judged solely by librarians. As a school, we benefit from hundreds of donated books, as Carnegie judges receive every nominated title. Mrs Prestwood has also developed an extensive knowledge of children’s literature, having read more than 300 books over the two years she was a judge. We shadow this award annually in the library between March and June.