Promoting Reading at Hatch End High School

We have three key strands within our promotion of the importance of READING at Hatch End High School which are:

 

1. Reading for Pleasure

Promoting Reading for Pleasure across all year groups where our young people are encouraged, both in lessons and in tutor time, to immerse themselves in the joy of reading a text.  This does not have to be a “literary” text but can also be non-fiction e.g., a newspaper, a journal, text on an internet search site to name but some.  The Learning Resource Centre, our library, is key to our approach and as well as having a face to face and online service they also host a wide range of fun and engaging activities such as live poetry sessions and visits from authors.  Please click here for some recent examples from our newsletters. 

2. Scholarly Enquiry

Promoting Scholarly Enquiry which means that in all subject lessons, we really encourage students to independently read a text, fiction or non-fiction, which supplements the subject or is indirectly related to a similar topic or theme being studied.  We currently have a KS3 Booklet (Years 7-9) and a KS4/KS5 Booklet (Years 10-13), which lists a wide range of reading suggestions that any student can refer to.  We believe this brings academic study alive and enriches our understanding.  

To view the booklets, please follow the links below:

KS3 Reading for Scholarly Enquiry Booklet (Years 7-9)

KS4 & KS5 Reading for Scholarly Enquiry Booklet (Years 10-13) 

Our Library (Learning Resource Centre) is a key place and resource for both of the above.  It is situated in our brand-new L Block and is a large and user friendly space for a wide range of enrichment activities, events, lessons and reading activities.

It is a hive of activity and has become the centre point of the L Block. The LRC promotes reading using posters, competitions, challenges and the LRC Manager is on hand to assist both students and staff with accessing resources.

You can find about more about our Learning Resource Centre by clicking here
 

3. Fluency

We recognise that sometimes students are unconfident readers. We want them to quickly gain confidence and what we call FLUENCY in being able to “automatically decode” words quickly and therefore be able to understand what they are reading more efficiently.  If any student in Years 7-9 is struggling with reading we put in place a range of appropriate interventions, primarily (but not exclusively) using PHONICS as an approach.  We recognise that students who have difficulty with reading have very different needs and therefore we tailor our approach for maximum impact.  Our 'Literacy Aide Memoire' has more detailed information about phonics.