Fostering a love of learning is at the heart of everything we do. As part of this, we feel passionately about the importance of English and literacy in the broadest sense, whether that be reading and discussing books at school, 1:1 with a teacher, at home alone, or at home with a parent. Our school library is a source of great pride: constantly reviewed, updated, refreshed – we want to encourage the children to love books and to feel confident in navigating between fiction and non-fiction, to enjoy discussing titles with teachers and with one another, and to take the responsibility of borrowing and returning books.
We are also very proud of our carefully curated essential reading lists which are below.
Essential books Nursery and Reception – Adult to Child 2023 (for adults to read to children)
Reception to Year 2 Essential Reads (for emerging readers)
“A library is many things. It’s a place to go, to get in out of the rain. It’s a place to go if you want to sit and think. But particularly it is a place where books live, and where you can get in touch with other people, and other thoughts, through books. If you want to find out about something, the information is in the reference books—the dictionaries, the encyclopedias, the atlases. If you like to be told a story, the library is the place to go. Books hold most of the secrets of the world, most of the thoughts that men and women have had. And when you are reading a book, you and the author are alone together—just the two of you. A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people—people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.”
E.B White, 1971