At Moreton school, we absolutely believe that reading is a passport to success, and reading opens students up to ideas, experiences, places and times they might never otherwise experience in real life. Every child deserves the chance to become a reader, and research shows that children who read for pleasure achieve well right across the curriculum and beyond. Reading also has many benefits beyond academic success, such as improved mental health.

With this in mind, we wanted to update you on what we are currently doing in school to support your child on their reading journey:

• Relaunch of the Moreton Canon; the Moreton Canon is a set of books that we have specially selected for our students to enjoy. They read a selection of these books twice a week in form time with their tutor. This has had an impact on improving our students’ reading ages, and has been really successful so far. We have a Moreton Canon display in our school foyer, and have published the reading list on our website.
• Culture Vultures; Once a week in form time, as well as accessing a novel, tutors read a non-fiction article that is linked to current events. This half term, the focus is on the 80th Anniversary of the D Day landings, the Euro football tournament, Wimbledon, Pride Month and Refugee week, amongst others. This encourages students to increase their cultural capital and knowledge of current events, as well as working on reading, comprehension and debate skills.
• Word of the Week; This is part of our initiative to develop students’ vocabulary. These words are closely linked to the Culture Vultures article and allows students to explore the definition, pronunciation and etymology of the key terms.
• Blue Peter Book Badges;Year 7 students have all had the chance to apply for a Blue Peter Book Badge which gets them free entry to tourist attractions right across the country. Year 8 and 9 students will also get the chance to do this over the summer term.
• Lexonik intervention; We have had members of staff trained in the very effective Lexonik programme, which supports students whose reading age is not yet in line with their actual age. This takes place during form time, so does not take away from lesson time, but it is having a huge impact and will be rolled out to a larger group in the coming academic year.
• Restock of library books and vending machine;We have secured some donations of books and purchased some more for the school library. We now have a student empowerment section of our library, as well as restocking our fabulous book vending machine. Students can earn tokens for the vending machine as a reward, and get a free book of their choice.
• Virtual Author Visits; We have had a number of virtual author visits for KS3 students. One is from Sharna Jackson, a crime and mystery writer and we also have another during our celebrations of Refugee Week from famous author Michael Rosen.

• Community Bookshelf; As well as our community wardrobe and pantry available to all families in our reception area, we have a community bookshelf. Parents and families can access books here completely free of charge. We are also going to provide books for younger siblings, so future Moreton students always have reading materials at home.
• Rolling programme of events; We will have a rolling programme of events, challenges, rewards and visits in the coming academic year. Please keep an eye on our social media channels for more information.
• We hope that our reading initiatives capture your child’s interest. Developing a love of reading is a priority for us at Moreton School. Nurturing this passion is our aim from when children first join our Moreton family in Year 7 and we hope it continues all the way through to KS4, KS5 and beyond.At home, you can help support our in-school initiatives by simply talking about reading with your children and asking them about what they are currently reading in school. You could encourage them to read for pleasure outside of school, read aloud to friends and family, or encourage them to visit the local library so they have access to a wide variety of reading materials.
•  If you would like any more information or support, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at: vmortimer@aatrust.co.uk