Book Buzz at Wellacre

Posted at 9:47 am on 23rd November, 2021

Inspiring a Love of Reading

Wellacre’s drive to inspire a love of reading in students continues with a range of class initiatives and library developments. 

   

Book Buzz

Once again, Wellacre’s Year 7 students have benefitted from The Book Trust’s ‘Book Buzz’ scheme, which ensures that each student receives a free book, with a choice from 17 possible titles. 

Mrs Stirling, Leader of Whole School Literacy, said:

“It was great that this year as students chose books on a wide range of topics - there was no popular choice. The books were much anticipated with students picking stories on space exploration, superheroes and the funny world of teachers!”

The Book Buzz scheme has inspired our students, with many diving into their new book already. Feedback from our Year 7 students include:

Alfie: “It’s a good idea because it helps kids who don’t have books to read.”

Noah: “I think it was a good idea that they handed the books out to help people read more than they had previously.”

Hassan: “Freddie Yates is a really good adventure story!”

Luca: “I genuinely like ‘Fire Boy’. It’s about a boy who gets a package one day and it contains sweets, which give him super powers!”

Laurie: “I like my book on the Funny Lives of Teachers because it’s funny!”

   

Re-Opening Wellacre’s Library

The English Department has loved welcoming their KS3 classes back for weekly library lessons. Students spend this time reading and completing Accelerated Reader quizzes. The new book stock has been a hit with students, along with the new shelf organisation; the most popular genres are magical worlds and the gothic!

          

We are grateful for the kind donation of books from members of the community. ‘Black and British’ by David Olusoga and ‘You Are a Champion’ by Marcus Rashford have been enjoyed in particular. 

Luke, Year 7, said:

“I loved reading ‘Black and British.’ It was great to understand parts of, and people, in history that you might not learn about in school.”  

Thank you to everyone who has helped our students in this way. If you would like to donate a book to our library, we have worked with A New Chapter, an independent, inclusive bookshop, to create a wishlist for Wellacre’s school library.  Please see the list here.

The library’s new ‘Suggestion Box’ has also been restarted with students able to request books to be added to the collection. In September, students from across the school asked for fiction books about cars to be purchased and they are now already enjoying these books from Wellacre’s library. We encourage students to keep the suggestions coming! 

Wellacre students have also been writing reviews for the school library to help others find the next good book to read. Look out for the ‘Book Finder’ in the library soon.

Class Reads

We have introduced a collective ‘class read’ at the start of KS3 English lessons. These books are read as a class by the teacher, purely for enjoyment, and students (as well as teachers) look forward to this time each lesson!

Current popular books are “The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket” by John Boyne, “Just Call Me Spaghetti-Hoop Boy” by Lara Williamson and “Ghost Boys” by Jewell Parker Rhodes. 

Student feedback includes:

Lucas: “I like it because we get to read funny books.”

Hashim: “It’s good because it gets you ready for the lesson.”

Isaac: “It helps you read more books in a year, we can read the class read, as well as our personal reading book in our free time.”

Alfie: “It gets you in the right mindset for English after coming from another subject.”

Mrs Sharrock, Principal, commented: 

“It makes me really happy to see so many students enjoying a shared story in their English lessons. They genuinely can’t wait to read on! I have also noticed a greater range of text choices from students generally for their personal reads. Reading will continue to be at the heart of what we do at Wellacre.”