News

Drop Everything And Read!

Helping our children develop a reading habit is one of the best – and most enjoyable – ways to help them do well at school. Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day perform not only perform better in tests, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a deeper understanding of other cultures.

This term, we're introducing a bold new initiative: Drop Everything And Read (DEAR). Twice a week, EVERYONE in school – staff and students alike – will stop whatever they are doing, take out their reading book and enjoy 15 minutes of silent reading together. The initiative started after half-term break, and already we're getting great feedback from staff and students. 

Year 11 student Niema says, ‘DEAR time was a really calm end to our lesson this week. It was nice to focus in a quiet atmosphere and helped me relax from feeling anxious about the upcoming exams.’

Teacher Ms Mackenzie says, ‘There's something powerful about knowing the whole school is engaged with reading at the exact same time.’ Head of Sixth Form, Ms Metselaar adds, ‘It was a joy to spend time reading with Year 13 boys in the Sixth Form Common Room – great respect to the programme!’

And headteacher Mr Hadley sums it up, ‘It is a true pleasure to walk through the entire building and find all our students, teachers and support staff completely engrossed in silent reading: thank you to everyone who has embraced this hugely important step in creating a genuine reading culture at our school.’

Reading Books In Every Classroom!

A huge thank you goes to all students and families who delivered book donations to school in response to our recent appeal. As a result of your fantastic generosity, we now have a Drop Everything And Read bookshelf in every single classroom. So in every class, students can choose from a range of at least 15 enjoyable books to pick up and read. If you still have favourite books at home that you'd like to donate, it's not too late. Just drop them in the donation boxes or give them to our librarian. Thank you!