Reading & Writing at RWS
At Ravens Wood, we are proud to present our Trust’s Charter on Reading, which highlights our commitment to fostering a lifelong love of reading and promoting high standards of literacy. We equip students with a strong command of written language while encouraging knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment of reading and writing in various contexts.
Impact Multi Academy Trust Reading Charter
Quality Teaching
· Reading and writing skills are developed through quality teaching across the curriculum.
· Students have opportunities for focused writing in every lesson.
· Teachers regularly model reading strategies and expressive reading to students.
Encouraging Reading
· Weekly Reading Lessons: in the library for all Years 7 & 8.
· Class Readers: Shared reading during form time for Years 7-10.
· Reading Displays: Designed to encourage students to explore a range of new books and genres.
· World Book Day: Every year, we celebrate world book day with a range of activities that highlight the benefits of reading.
· School trips: every year we organise trips and events which bring the texts to live. Past trips have included, visiting the library for Q&A
session with Malorie Blackman, Visiting the Unicorn Theatre to watch a performance of the year 8 class reader, Pig Heart Boy.
Class Readers
We believe in fostering a love of reading for both pleasure and purpose. Our form tutors read with students in Years 7 to 10 every week, guiding them through challenging and rewarding texts, covering a wide range of themes such as family relationships, health, war and migration, dystopian society, and perseverance in difficult situations.
An overview of the Class Reader for each year group can be found in the attachments below.
Please click the relevant year group below to download a copy.
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Our School Library
Our library is filled with popular contemporary and classic texts suitable for all reading ages, designed to inspire and challenge our young readers.
Meet Miss Protheroe
Miss Protheroe, our school librarian, continuously updates our collection. You can browse the catalogue here (login with your child’s school account).
Library Access
· Year 7 & 8: Regular access as part of their weekly Reading lesson.
· Homework Club: Open every day after school.
· Break & Lunchtime: Available for all year groups.
Reading Recommendations
To help students navigate the extensive selection, we have created tailored book recommendations for each year group, organised by genre. Check the attachments below for more details. Miss Protheroe also regularly updates topical book displays in the library that point students towards popular books.
Year 6 Transition Reading List
Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Key Stage 4 Key Stage 5
Suggestions Welcome
We are always looking to expand our collection. If you have suggestions for books you would like to see in our school or virtual library, please email Miss Protheroe at library@rws.uk.net.
Support
We recognise that some students find reading challenging and require additional support to have the necessary reading skills and knowledge to succeed academically. If you have any concerns about your child’s reading, please see the link below for advice on how you can support your child’s reading at home. If you have any additional questions regarding reading, you can contact Miss Hemetsberger at ahe@rws.uk.net.
Tips for supporting reading at home
Celebrating Writing
We encourage participation in writing competitions at the school, local, and national levels.
Poetry Anthology
Our reading and writing initiatives are supported by the Poetry Anthology for Years 7 and 8, where students recite or memorise selected poems.
This treasured tradition is something we hope to honour for many years to come, and includes a range of seminal poetry, from classics such as Wordsworth’s The Daffodils and William Ernest Henley’s ‘Invictus’ to powerful contemporary work such as Amanda Gorman’s The Hill.
Writing at Ravens Wood
Improving Secondary Writing Strategy
When students join us in Year 7, they participate in the Improving Secondary Writing Strategy. They create a script based on a central prompt, which is assessed against national benchmarks to measure their writing progress throughout secondary school.
Dedicated Writing Time
Our lesson structure includes a period of silent writing in each one-hour lesson. This dedicated time allows students to practice and develop their writing skills effectively.
Creative Writing Enrichment Club
To enrich writing experiences, we offer a Creative Writing Enrichment Club, organised and run by Mr Coleman.
Writing Competitions and Challenges
The English department participates in various writing competitions throughout the year. Additionally:
· KS4 Students: Engage in ‘Essay Fridays’ every week.
· KS3 Students: Take part in a fortnightly writing challenge.
Year 7 and 8 Writing Challenge
The annual RWS500 competition is completed by Year 7 and 8 students. The task is to consider something topical that they have enjoyed reading (it could be anything from a newspaper, magazine, book – fiction or non-fiction or on the internet).
Students then explain what they have discovered that they did not know, would be interesting to their friends, and would be valuable for society at large (parents, teachers, employers, politicians, etc.) to be aware of and why?
Students write 500 words and submit their entry to Ms Lester, Headteacher. The entries are then shortlisted to 8 students, who join Ms Lester for a Seminar lunch with one of the School governors to discuss their writing.
RWS1000 Competition
The RWS1000 competition takes place each year within Sixth Form Communities. All students answer an essay title from one of their subjects. Prizes are awarded for the best essay in each category, as well as an overall grand prize for the best essay overall. All winning entries are shared in an RWS1000 Anthology at the end of the summer term with the winning essay being published in the Newsletter and online.
External Writing competitions
Students have regular opportunities to take part in competitions, such as the Foyle Young Poets of the Year mini saga competitions, and speech- writing for the Jack Petchey Speak Out! Challenge.