Fostering a love of reading for life

In order to foster a love of reading for life in your child, it is important to instil a number of good habits in their daily routine.  Your child should read 30-45 minutes per day which will improve his/her grammar, vocabulary, spelling and imagination.

How does Dormers Wells High School help?

Dormers Wells High School boasts a wonderfully resourced library where all students can borrow up to three books at a time. The library opening hours are from 8am to 5pm every day to facilitate students in loaning, renewing and ordering books. Our librarians are always available to assist in recommending books and to provide reading lists if desired.

Our curriculum is rich in reading opportunities and our pastoral curriculum also includes two DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) sessions per fortnight for all students from Year 7 to Year 13. All students from Year 7 to Year 9 are timetabled in the library during their English lesson on a fortnightly basis.  

All Year 7 and Year 8 students are enrolled onto Accelerated Reader which results in House Points and other rewards being awarded.

Other ways to support your child’s learning

Educational research shows that children greatly benefit from reading aloud and from being read to. To address this in school, some students are allocated mentors from upper years to listen to them read To support your child’s learning at home, it is recommend that an adult or elder sibling reads to him/her on a frequent basis. Alternatively, you could ask your child to read to his/her younger siblings. These good habits result in conversations about reading, revising or explaining key vocabulary, and forging a bond over reading together. Research also shows that a child benefits from seeing his/her parents/carers reading in the home environment too – a wonderful reason to begin that book you’ve been looking forward to reading!

Other ways to support your child’s learning

You may not be reading with your child as you did at primary school but you can still support good reading habits. Talk to your child about the books you're both reading. Encourage your child to borrow up to three books at time from our school library. Sign up and go to the public library together - if your child is stuck for a new author, ask the librarian for guidance or look online at book reviews. Ask what books your child would like for presents on special occasions.

Keeping up-to-date with the news helps with schoolwork. Try to encourage your child to read a newspaper at least once or twice a week. Find news stories that connect to lesson topics. If your child is researching a subject, suggest the online archives of a good newspaper or the BBC website.

If you’re planning a day out, visit a museum or gallery that will tie in with work your child is doing in subjects such as Art, English, History, Geography or Science - this can be a fun way to add depth and interest to your child's learning.

To support your child’s reading skills at home, you could use some of these questions to begin a discussion around the text or book your child is reading