Reading
At The King’s we know how important reading is to our students. Being able to read well is a key driver in students’ academic successes, prepares them for navigating adult life and allows them to explore their own interests outside of school. It is therefore our duty to prepare students to read with precision and insight.
We ensure that reading is a priority throughout all areas of school life; we have a well-stocked library, have fortnightly reading for pleasure lessons in KS3 English, run a reading programme in Form Time, plan for reading across all curriculum areas and provide a range of extra-curricular enrichment opportunities which promote reading.
Our Library
We have a school librarian, Mrs Little, so that students can benefit from recommendations and borrow books and other reading materials. Mrs Little also organises Bookbuzz (where our Year 7 and 8s receive a free book), World Book Day and supports in reading lessons and with literacy competitions.
Fortnightly reading lessons take place in Year 7 and Year 8 with students expected to participate in whole class-reads to develop their spoken communication skills, as well as through consolidating their learning through oracy tasks which encourage students to consider the viewpoints of characters, themes and the intentions of writers.
Thinking Reading
At The King's we are relentless in ensuring that all students can benefit from regular reading, however we understand that students may find reading challenging.
The Thinking Reading programme is led by Miss Carr and her team who work to identify students decoding words at a level which is at least 2 years below their age (chronological age); eligible students will benefit from three 30-minute sessions each week which focus on developing reading accuracy and fluency.
Students who are not able to read accurately at an appropriate level have difficulty accessing a range of subjects and the assessments for these. It is the purpose of the programme to reduce the reading gap for students and empower them with the skills which will equip them for a lifetime of success.
Form Time Reading
During Form Time, students read from a range of fiction and non-fiction texts extracts as well as the whole-class reading of novels.
Here is a selection of the books being read by Years 7 – 11 during FormTime:
Trash – Andy Mulligan
Can you see me? – Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott
Noughts and Crosses – Marjorie Blackman
Where the World Ends - Gillian McCaughrean
The Extinction Trials – S. M. Wilson
The Outsiders – S. E. Hinton
To Kill a Mocking Bird – Harper Lee
The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
Reading Across The Curriculum
We encourage the use of VIPERS reading (vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, and summarising) across the curriculum to allow for students to practice a range of skills with a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. This also exposes students to a range of vocabulary and writing styles.
Enrichment Opportunities
We regularly run a variety of reading and writing competitions across all year groups and have even had many students published! Some of these books are available at the School Reception. There are popular book clubs running for Years 7, 8 and 9. We reward enthusiastic readers via our school reward system to show the value it has in our school. Every fortnight, a new article is ‘published’ in the canteen for students to read and discuss over their lunch. The topics covered so far this year include sports, music, technology, science and current affairs.
How To Support Reading At Home