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Tutor Reading Programme

Regular reading is vital for raising literacy levels. We run a structured reading programme during tutor time which expose students to challenging texts that support their understanding of the wider curriculum and the world around them. This helps to broaden their reading experience, raise their vocabulary level, and increase their cultural capital.  

Students in Years 7-11 are entitled to read as a tutor group for at least an hour a week across two or more tutor time sessions. The aim is that over the course of the year students in Years 7-10 will have read the chosen 'Core Four' books for their year group listed below. They discuss some of the more challenging vocabulary, as well as using the text as a basis for stimulating discussion of wider issues. 

In response to a student voice survey at the end of July 2022, some new books have been added to the tutor reading programme that broaden diversity and have greater links to the school curriculum. The social action student group are working to raise money to buy the other book suggestions to the school library.

Year 7

Core Four 

The Girl of Ink and Stars, Kiran Millwood Hargrave 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis  

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Joan Aiken 

Bonus Books

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll 

Boy, Roald Dahl 

Clockwork, Philip Pullman 

The Other Side of Truth, Beverley Naidoo 

Year 8 

Core Four 

Black Beauty, Anna Sewell 

Dracula, Bram Stoker (selected chapters)

The Promise, Eva Schloss

Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw 

Bonus Books 

Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian 

I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai  

Northern Lights, Philip Pullman

Year 9 

Core Four 

The Crucible, Arthur Miller 

The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

Noughts and Crosses, Malorie Blackman 

Wonder, R. J. Palacio

Bonus Books 

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley 

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck 

Year 10 

Core Four 

1984, George Orwell (selected chapters)

Black and British: A Short, Essential History, David Olusoga

The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevado

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson 

Bonus Books 

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak 

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro 

Sherlock Holmes Stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Year 11 

Animal Farm, George Orwell 

The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas 

The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde

Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

LEARNING