Drop Everything And Read

This week we launched our Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) programme.

The last lesson of each school day is a DEAR session in form groups, where students return to their form bases to read culturally enriching works of literature with their form tutors. The form tutor reads aloud as students follow the text using their own individual copy of the book. All forms in a year group will read the same chapters each week, so as to enjoy an enriching and shared learning journey. Students will read approximately one book per term.

All the books have been carefully selected to develop students' range of vocabulary, but also, to provide them with important cultural capital. In short, not just knowledge of words, but knowledge of the world.

The books for the first term are:

Year 7 - The Giver
Year 8 - Welcome to Nowhere
Year 9 - Noughts and Crosses
Year 10 - Woman in Black
Year 11 - 1984

Form tutors have been provided with guides, explaining and outlining the core themes to address for each chapter. There is also a list of key vocabulary to define and explain, and student glossaries to help with any tricky words.

Through reading, we are transported to new and exciting places beyond the realms of our everyday lives. We know that as children get older, many of them stop reading for pleasure. More than any other factor, reading ability and the number of words we know are the main predictors of social mobility. Ultimately, we want our students to have as many truly enriching learning experiences as possible and we are very excited to introduce our (DEAR) Drop Everything And Read programme.

Mr Donlon, Assistant Headteacher, said: “The feedback from both students and staff has been overwhelmingly positive. Students are enjoying and looking forward to each session in excited anticipation of what comes next. It has been so nice to see all students in each year group being part of a shared learning journey. A lot of work has gone into the programme and we are very proud to be one of the very few secondary schools doing anything as ambitious or transformative.”