GGS Loves to Read
Reading for Pleasure
Reading is possibly the single most important activity a young person can do to support their cognitive development and academic success. Multiple studies have found that children who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better at secondary school. Reading also reaps social and emotional benefits; it increases self-esteem and confidence, and studies show that children who read are more empathetic.
Ofsted (May 2022) called our focus on reading for pleasure ‘exemplary’ given our steadfast belief that reading is not only a fundamental life skill but a tangible joy too – a joy that needs to be shared.
Students and staff share their reading experiences through various book clubs (and beyond), reading challenges, on our dedicated reading website or simply by word of mouth: personal recommendations and suggestions to pique interest from football to fungi. This teamed with timetabled reading lessons in KS3 and form-class reads has helped many students embark on their own personal reading journey with confidence.
 | George Green's Loves to Read School Blog
is designed to help your child to:
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www.georgegreenslovestoread.com is our very own website dedicated entirely to reading for pleasure and for information. It enables students (and staff) to connect and find links to online books and resources quickly including The Day, an online daily newspaper specifically for young people which focuses on the big issues shaping our world and VLeBooks: our own e-library.
The website is a driving force in students discovering and sharing books recommendations with over 300 reviews posted since 2021 (even the guide to writing a review was written by students). It launches our annual reading challenges co-written with students as well as links to reading lists for each key stage, annual events, competitions and news, staff and student ‘Books of the Term’, a MFL Library, simple suggestions for parents and carers to support reading for pleasure at home and much, much more. Start by visiting our ‘Recommended Reading’ pages which categorise books by genre and key stage. Every title listed can be found in our LRC.
| Reading for just 20-30 minutes everyday helps to improve your knowledge and understanding of the world around you, your confidence, and your reading and writing skills. It also helps to you to relax and exercise your imagination; reading can show you a different world – a place you’ve never been before! We look forward to welcoming you to our Reading Community. #georgegreenslovestoread |
Accessit Library is our Learning Resources Centre (LRC) catalogue and resources system. It helps you search for books, websites, film clips, external databases and more. You can also reserve books, set ‘interests’ for notifications, renew loans and view past loans, write book reviews and much more.
Check out our quick guide to using it here.
The LRC
The school’s Learning Resource Centre (LRC) is at the heart of the school: a popular and buzzing place, home to over 20,000 books including fiction, non-fiction, magazines, manga and graphic novels. It is open for browsing and borrowing every break and lunchtime and during Study Hall after school and provides students with a welcoming space in which to study and read, quietly or with peers.
We regularly audit and replenish our stock and displays to champion diversity in voices and stories, taking into consideration our student population as well as ensuring popular titles and genres are readily available and current.
Students play an active role in suggesting books and promoting reading to inspire others. We have: student librarians who curate; student-led book clubs who support with event planning and annual reading challenges; a book request system (to help keep up to date with current trends!); a dedicated reading website: www.georgegreenslovestoread.com to share recommendations and locate reading-related resources; student buddy reading schemes within the school and with two local primary schools, and every Year 7 student when they join is set the tough challenge of selecting a new book to keep to build up their own personal library. We know that reading improves wellbeing and positive thinking and to this end, we have a ‘shelf-care’ area in the LRC set aside for relaxed reading which houses a mixture of fiction, non-fiction, picture books and poetry to provide escapism, advice, information or comfort in supporting students to manage their wellbeing or understand themselves, and others, better to ensure they do not feel alone.
Growing up is challenging and reading can help young people explore and think through complex problems from the safe fictional world of a book. As parents or carers we can often need to convince them of the importance and tangible joy of reading especially in a world of digital distractions. Here are some simple suggestions and tips on engaging your children to read: