Just Reading Approach
‘Reading is essential for those who seek to rise
above the ordinary’
Since 2024, St Mary’s College students in Years 7-11 enjoy an afternoon tutor time reading session every day.
Reading is the most significant factor in supporting student outcomes so, at St Mary's College, every child engages in a daily reading session in which the child's form tutor reads to the students for 25 minutes. This addition to our curriculum is designed to not only accelerate student progress, but also help to develop our students’ character, by building their cultural capital, so that they can make a positive difference in the world.
All of the books have been carefully selected, ensuring the list is diverse in terms of representation and genre.
We have had a working group of staff from across all subject areas who have collaborated to select texts which we feel are both appropriate for our students, but also highly engaging – lots of the books chosen are award-winning and have been written by authors that excel in their field - we even have local authors who have worked at our very school on our list! We listen to staff and students' feedback, purchasing books from series students are engrossed in and reviewing all chosen texts at appropriate points.
Please click on the visual bookshelves for each year group below to see what we are reading:
Current impact
At St Mary's College, we believe that reading is the gateway to all learning. We are incredibly proud to share the latest progress data (measured from student starting points to June 2026), which highlights the exceptional impact of our school-wide reading strategy across all year groups.
More information can be found here:
https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/centre-for-international-education/projects/fasterread
