Reading Centre

The Reading Centre is primarily devoted to the reading of fiction and is used mainly by Middle School students. It is a tremendous resource for the English department and is invaluable in promoting independent reading for all students. There are timetabled classes once a fortnight for Years 7, 8 and 10. These involve activities and discussion about books as well as time for silent reading. The Reading Centre introduces students to a variety of resources to support their reading development. These include school based folders and booklets as well as online databases such as Novelist, Library Thing and Shelfari.

The students benefit from the guidance of the Reading Centre assistant in choosing new books that are suitable for their interests and ability. This includes support for holiday reading. Students are encouraged to read for enjoyment and explore books by new authors. They are expected to maintain a reading record throughout years 7 to 10 and in Year 10 we have a Read Around the World scheme to support students in reading more widely, with an international perspective.

The Reading Centre is open daily from 8am. As well as scheduled lessons, students can use the Reading Centre at break and lunch time. This provides opportunities for senior students to offer their help and contribute to their CAS hours. There are clubs for Scrabble and Board Games which meet in the Reading Centre as well as extra-curricular reading groups who meet together to share their ideas and responses to the books they have read. PageGV, which runs throughout the year, is the most regular group. It meets at Friday lunch time and offers a forum in which students can recommend books to each other. PageGV also organises many varied activities through the year such as games, themed parties, quizzes and competitions.

The climax of the year is the Carnegie Shadowing scheme which runs from April to June. The Carnegie Medal is awarded each year to a new book written for children. A shortlist is published several weeks in advance and schools throughout Britain and the world shadow the judging by reading the books and deciding on their own winner before the result is announced. KGV has the largest shadowing group in the world. In 2008 155 participants read the shortlisted books over 550 times between them in eight weeks. The Shadowing figures for 2009 were 181 shadowers and 603 books read. This is quite an achievement in terms of resourcing and management!