Literacy and Reading
Reading for Pleasure Challenges
Here at The Leigh Academy, we have long recognised the importance of reading for pleasure for developing young people's experiences of the wider world and for the joy of escapism and imagination. This year we have taken reading for pleasure to a new level and have launched a variety of reading challenges and extended the availability of texts for our children through the Virtual Library.
Below are the reading opportunities that our students can now access:
The Inter College Reading Trophy
Key Stage Three - The IB MYP World Map of Reading
Students in years 7, 8 and 9 have been invited to take part in this reading challenge, focused on reading a text from each of the seven continents. Each time a student completes one round of the challenge, they receive 50 literacy reward points plus a token for their college, with the aim of winning the Inter College Reading Trophy. Each college has their own token box so that students can see how well their college is doing. Competition is high, not least amongst the college staff teams!
Below are some suggestions for reading material from each of the continents.
Key Stage 4 16B416 Challenge
This September saw the re-launch of the 16B416 Challenge for Key Stage 4 students. Students are invited to select 16 texts from a list of 20 well known books:
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
Misery – Stephen King
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
Heroes – Robert Cormier
The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton
Animal Farm – George Orwell
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Year 10 and Year 11 students also receive rewards for reading each of the texts and for completing the challenge in the shape of literacy rewards and tokens for their college. Additional vouchers will also be awarded to students who read all 20 books!
The Leigh Virtual Library
Students also have access to The Leigh Virtual Library so that they can access reading material even when they don't have a book in front of them. The virtual library allows students access to a range of texts from the classics, such as Jane Eyre, through to gothic horror such as Frankenstein.
Students can also request books they would like to read through the virtual library and leave book reviews for their peers. Each interaction with the virtual library secures more rewards in the shape of literacy rewards. There really is no end to reading for pleasure here at The Leigh Academy!
