READING AT HRS

Our HRS Reading Strategy - Learning to read, reading to learn, reading for pleasure.

At Helena Romanes School, we understand that strong literacy skills not only underpin the entire curriculum, but are vital for students to be able to participate in wider society. This has also been recognised by the Department of Education, which has recently announced 2026 to be the National Year of Reading, aiming to highlight the importance of reading to parents and children to boost life chances. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/parents-urged-to-read-more-to-boost-childrens-life-chances 

Here at HRS, we weave opportunities to read for pleasure into the school day as well as embedding challenging reading material into curriculum lessons. This ensures that students continue to be exposed to rigorous reading material, constantly pushing them to learn and embed subject-specific vocabulary. Year 7 and 8 have dedicated Learning Zone (library lessons) on their timetable, in which they are encouraged to read physical books, as well as reading carefully using the SparxReader platform. Year 9 students are set fortnightly homework on SparxReader through their English lessons. All year groups also have a dedicated tutor reading session, when students are expected to bring their own book and have protected time to read.

We recognise that some students can find reading a challenge. For students who are identified as having a lower-than-chronological reading age, we offer bespoke 1:1 intervention using the Thinking Reading programme. This has a track record of being incredibly successful at catching students up rapidly, and HRS is rolling this opportunity out to students from Autumn 2025.

Reading for pleasure is such a gift for students; in an age of smartphones and the associated adverse effects on mental health, reading can be a powerful tool for relaxation and mental regulation. However, the school day is limited and it is vital that fostering a love of reading is also supported at home. Please see this link to the National Literacy Trust's research on the benefits of reading https://literacytrust.org.uk/reading-for-pleasure/families/ and how parents can also nurture this key life skill at home.