This year is the National Year of Reading, and now more than ever we need to encourage young people to read regularly.

In 2025, just 1 in 3 children and young people aged 8–18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time - a 36% drop since 2005. These are really worrying figures for our young people.

We are lucky to have a school library that is open every day for students to choose books and read for pleasure. We also have a free public library in our town centre, as well as one in nearby Woolwich.

Throughout the year, our school library runs lots of events and competitions, including World Book Day in March, where there will be book giveaways and exciting activities.

I hope each tutor group will encourage students to visit the library and take books out. Last year, we celebrated with a pizza party for the tutor groups who read the most books - let’s see who wins this year!

Overdue books?

Please bring them back to the library as soon as possible. If you’ve lost a book, just let me know - I can remove it from your account immediately so you can start borrowing again. Don’t let this stop you from reading.

And finally - I would love to hear your book recommendations.

Come by and tell me what you’d like to see in the library: fiction, non‑fiction, magazines, poetry, plays… it’s your library, and your choices matter.

Let’s make this the year we all get reading again.

💙📖 Mrs Hawgood - School Librarian