The importance of reading - and choices to make

Last week saw World Book Day celebrated around the Academy. find out more below about what went on during the day. This is an important day for the Academy as reading has been a major focus for us all this year. For our students and children to have opportunities in life they must be able to read well, and express themselves clearly. This starts at home, then in Nursery, and continues to be important throughout their time in education. At GCSE, a student’s vocabulary significantly affects their chances in all their examination subjects, and then their employability when they leave education. Some learners arrive in Year 9, for example with a working vocabulary of over 20,000 words, whereas a reluctant reader will have a working vocabulary of less than 10,000 words – this makes a difference to their life chances. Reading matters! There will be important communications out in the next three weeks for parents of students in Year 8 about their options for GCSE, starting in September 2015. This is a year when a number of curriculums change, therefore it is important that the booklet you will receive before Easter is read carefully, in advance of the Parents' Evening on Thursday 23rd April. Also coming home before Easter will be a booklet outlining the arrangements for Years 7-9 in Activities Week. This year it takes place in the last week of the summer term, when Year 10 students are completing their work experience. Students will be engaged in activities in and around the Academy, along with a number of residential activities. This is a time of year when our Year 6, Year 11 and Sixth Form students are focused on establishing exactly where they are with regards to their forthcoming exams; revision and practice of past examination papers takes on increased importance. The Sixth Form students are making good inroads with their exam and coursework preparation. This year a record number of students have applied for university and have received their offers. They are now sifting through which of these offers to accept so that the next stage of their education is in place, ready for the autumn. Nick Hindmarsh, Principal.