Welcome to the Library.

Opening hours for all students are:

Monday and Tuesday 8.15-3.45

Wednesday – 8.15-4.15

Thursday and Friday – 8.45-4.15

The Library provides an excellent service in supporting all students in their personal and academic development. By encouraging reading for pleasure and purpose all students can acquire knowledge, understanding and skills that will enhance their learning and equip them to make choices for their future. It is a proven fact that reading is a key indicator of future success, empowering students both academically and personally.

One of the key factors in successfully promoting reading for pleasure is ‘choice’: Choice in the variety and inclusivity of resources and access to such resources. Choice is empowering, challenging and rewarding when students have been encouraged to reflect upon content within context. As such, and with guidance, we allow open access to all students. We encourage them to reflect upon their own level of ability to deal with more mature themes and to be able to discuss and debate in a spirit of openness, sensibility and trust. As a whole school we encourage reading in order to help students to develop a discerning and enquiring mindset on their journey of discovery and awareness of self and others.

The library works very closely with the English Department in order to maximise learning opportunities and shares the same belief in the words chosen by the department of the writer Maya Angelou.

 “When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.”    Maya Angelou

The Library is a safe space and place for our students to discover their place in the world. Books and other resources, fiction and non-fiction, are representative of our student body, inclusive and diverse and supplement the curriculum and support personal growth. All students are encouraged to use the library and to make suggestions and share their experiences.

We have a Library Management system which allows students access to the library catalogue in and out of school. They can manage their account, create reading lists, post reviews and research topics. Staff will also be able to set up reading lists for students and subject specific pages.

Competitions provide opportunities for challenging our students developing literacy skills and events and activities offer a fun focus on reading, writing and also illustrating. A new initiative this year is to develop the role of ‘Readers in Residence’.

Our students are encouraged to play an active role in the library and in promoting reading in general. As such we have a dedicated team of trained assistant librarians who support and help manage the library every day.

Put succinctly by the CEO of the ‘School Library Association ‘ (SLA) in Volume 71, Number 4 Winter edition 2023 of ‘The School Librarian’ (TSL),

‘A school library is a great place to teach empowerment: how to identify if you are feeling uncomfortable, what to do, and what to do about it. We cannot protect children from everything bad in the world; but we can teach them what to do when it happens: It is a ‘reader’ who will put down a book because it’s not for them – this is something we should be encouraging….

It is the nature of a school library that you will have some content which isn’t suitable for everyone who uses it - the curriculum alone makes this the case without adding in personal development, personality, attitudes and beliefs. But it is also the nature of a school library that choice and respect are at the heart of the service, which differentiates it from a class read, a set text or a curriculum topic.’

So, map in hand, courtesy of one of our students, start your journey of pleasure and empowerment today.

Click on the following link https://uk.accessit.online/str08/#!landingPage to access the library system web page using your usual log- in details and watch the video for guidance. This page will develop over the coming months so visit every day.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Librarian at school.

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