At Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School reading is everyone’s priority. There is a wealth of research that shows that reading regularly for pleasure has a significant impact on a young person’s intellectual progress, their writing, vocabulary and their mathematics. It is estimated that pupils need approximately 50,000 words to succeed in their education- and after the age of 5, most of these words will be acquired through reading.

We have a wide selection of books in our school library which have been chosen carefully to suit a wide range of interests; some to stretch and challenge confident readers, some to engage reluctant readers. Whichever category your child falls into- we have some excellent recommendations to help and support give your son/daughter the best chance at succeeding in their education and preparing for life beyond school.

We also regularly host book fairs and competitions in school to celebrate reading, and share our favourite reads. Our Scholastic Book Fairs are a pop-up celebration of reading that puts the very best books directly into our pupils’ hands, all while raising rewards to spend on free books and essential resources for our school.

We have Accelerated Reader which is a popular reading program used in schools. AR helps teachers track pupils’ independent practice and progress with reading. It’s not specifically designed for kids who learn and think differently, but teachers can use it to help guide struggling readers to books they can read successfully.

We also have Bedrock Learning which closes the literacy and vocabulary gap that exists between different groups of pupils and improves outcomes across the curriculum for all Year 7-9 pupils. The innovative, research-based digital vocabulary curriculum teaches Tier 2 vocabulary and encourages reading by engaging pupils in fiction and non-fiction prose, introducing words in context, and increasing cultural capital. The intelligent algorithms in the technology personalises the way language is taught and reinforced for each pupil and the self-marking activities generate data in real time to track pupil and class learning.
Our Year 7-9 pupils access Bedrock Learning at school, home or as part of a blended learning strategy. Every Bedrock pupils account can have a parent account linked to it. When it is set up, parents receive weekly updates with information about their child’s progress and specific words they’re learning. Parents can even try to drop new words into family conversations to help embed learning!

If you would like any further guidance with reading, need a recommendation that is sure to get your child reading, we highly recommend the ‘DECS Oliver’ website which has lots of useful tips and advice, along with all titles contained in our catalogue.