Reading
The Importance of Reading
The human brain did not evolve to read. It evolved to help us achieve a few basic things: avoid predators, find food, find shelter. It just so happens that, by evolving the way it did, it also enabled us to become great problem solvers. It was able to invent the wheel, master fire, develop weapons for hunting and defence, and to start making tools. It also worked out that it could use symbols to communicate ideas. This changed everything.
When humans started communicating with symbols, which slowly grew more complex and became words, their brains started to change even more dramatically. Learning to read forces the brain to build a huge number of new pathways and processes. With regular practice, it is very good at doing this. When young people learn to read, their brain begins to completely rewire itself, becoming ever more complex as it does so. And, just as our early brain was able to do things that it did not evolve to do, this new, rewired brain is capable of doing so much more than it has been built for. It’s as if reading gives us another evolutionary step that we all get to benefit from.
The reading brain, with its huge network of neurons, pathways and processes, is able to problem solve in ways it never could before. It can focus for long periods and think more deeply than it would otherwise be able to do. It’s better at dealing with stress and building relationships with others and it has a greater ability to learn new skills. These benefits add up to a collection of qualities that lead to success not just in school, but for the rest of our lives. On this page, you will find information about how we support students in developing this essential skill.
How do we support our students with their reading?
Reading for Progress
Reading for Progress focuses on ensuring that all students are well-supported in developing their reading skills. All students in years 7, 8 and 9 have an hour a week embedded into their timetables to focus solely on improving their reading skills. Students complete a standardised reading assessment three times a year and we use this information very carefully to match students to appropriate interventions and programmes which focus solely on improving their reading ability at a level which is personalised to their needs. Some of the interventions that we use include Ruth Miskin’s Fresh Start Phonics, Lexia Core 5 and Lexia Power Up. Our thriving readers attend Literary Masterclasses which focus on exposing students to a wide range of literary genres at a challenging level. Our tiered approach allows us to ensure that students are maximising their opportunities for development and also allows for growth which means that students don’t spend time matched with an intervention that they don’t need as they move up through the levels.
Reading for Pleasure
At CCA we are proud to prioritise Reading for Pleasure. The research is clear: children who read for pleasure make more progress in maths, as well as vocabulary and spelling, between the ages of 10 and 16 than those who rarely read. Readers are leaders and leaders are readers, which is why all students and staff start each day with 20 minutes of reading for pleasure with free choice over what they read, whether fiction, nonfiction, magazines, comic books, autobiographies or even recipe books - this time is for everyone to be able to lose themselves in a good book and to set themselves up for a calm and purposeful start to their school day.
Reading for Learning
Reading for Learning ensures that students are exposed to a wide range of texts across as many subjects as possible. In their exams and course materials, students will have to engage with a range of challenging written texts, and so it is important that they develop the reading ability required to fully understand them. By embedding challenging texts in all subjects, we are helping students to appreciate the powerful role that reading plays in their growing knowledge and understanding, as well as exposing them to the language and expression that they need to be able to use themselves on a regular basis.
Student Librarian Team
The Library has a body of Student Librarians who give up their lunchtimes to help out and improve the library environment, led by the wonderful Mrs Smith. To any student that comes in, these Student Librarians are just pottering around tidying up the library or issuing and returning loans on the library software. However what they don’t see is these same students are often preparing new books ready to be catalogued, looking through student book suggestions, creating book orders, unpacking new orders, returning books to the shelves, getting the library ready for the next lesson or even creating up to date powerpoints for our screen with latest book releases and upcoming events.
We take the role of Student Librarian very seriously and as a result all interested students undergo a rigorous recruitment process which includes an application form and interview. Our Senior Student Librarians in year 9 also support in conducting the interviews to ensure that we recruit the right students for the job. All Student Librarians are fully trained in all aspects of the Library.
A Student Librarian’s life is a very busy one but our team does an amazing job and makes Mrs Smith extremely proud!
Book Swaps
There’s no such thing as having too many books!
Every term we organise a free book swap in the Library. Every student in the school is invited to come along and browse the vast array of books of all different genres. You can bring in a book from home that you no longer read and swap it for another or just take a book (or two, or three!) to top up your collection. It can be a great way not only to have a declutter at home but also to try a book that you may not have considered before. If the students can’t make it to the Library for the book swap, fear not as any leftover books are permanently displayed in the Library as a continual source of free books for students to choose from. We know that times are tough and we are really proud to offer free reading material for all.
Book Swap days are hugely successful and very well attended - it's very rewarding to see students taking home armfuls of books!
