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Reading

Reading at Harborne Academy

At Harborne Academy, we believe reading is the most important skill students must develop during their time with us. We have a rich reading culture, essential not only to ensure students become skilled and confident readers, but also for them to acquire a love of reading that will last a lifetime.

Whether in print or on screen, the curriculum remains dominated by a wide range of texts that our students must access and take meaning from. Beyond academic success, being a successful reader yields many other benefits, including developing knowledge, creativity, empathy, self-expression, understanding of self and others, physical and mental health, economic well-being, the ability to interact socially and to relax.

At the heart of the academy is our wonderful library that holds a huge range of wonderful books with something for everyone. There are reading clubs and calendared events such as Roald Dahl Day, World Book Day, National Poetry Day and National Writing Day, to celebrate a love of reading and its importance to our lives, past, present and future.

The academic year beings with all students in Years 7 and 8 having a book of their choice purchased for them while, each week, our elusive ‘Book Ninja’ selects a lucky student to receive a book voucher.

In recent years we have welcomed many authors and illustrators to Harborne, such as Bali Ray, Patrice Lawrence, Linda Newbery, Tom Palmer, Hunt Emerson, Sufiya Ahmed, Liam Brown, Matt Windle, Martin Impey and Jessica Mikhail.

Literature is brought to life through regular visits to the theatre, to enjoy adaptations of books such as Animal Farm, The Color Purple, Noughts and Crosses, Private Peaceful, Frankenstein, Woman in Black, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In 2024-25, we have students going to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The National Theatre’s War Horse. There are also regular theatrical performances in school with productions such as A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Macbeth, Frankenstein and Jekyll and Hyde.

We are always looking for opportunities for other educational visits with literature at their heart. To mark World Book Day, Year 7 students visit Harry Potter World, while those in Years 8 and 9 enjoy a gothic literature tour of London. Each May, Harborne students are up early to cross the border into Wales for a visit to the world-famous Hay Festival, meeting authors amongst thousands of other avid readers. In July, Key Stage Three students enjoy a fascinating First World War history and literature tour of Belgium and France.

 

Gallery - Reading at Harborne

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Martin Impey talking to Harborne students about the poet, Wilfred Owen


MartinImpey

Martin Impey visiting our local primary school


Harborne Academy Student Librarians

StudentLibrarians

Our librarians, celebrating the opening of our manga collection.


PoetryReadingsAtRemembrance

Poetry readings at Remembrance


The Hay Festival - Antony Horowitz

HayFestivalAntonyHorowitz


The Hay Festival - Patrice Lawrence

HayFestivalPatriceLawrence


The Hay Festival - Phil Earle

HayFestivalPhilEarle


Harborne 100 Books

Harborne100Books


World Book Day - Book Swap

WBDBookSwap


World Book Day - Harry Potter Party

WBDHarryPotterParty


World Book Day - Make Your Mark

Bookmarks


Book Ninja

Book ninja


English Corridor Display

EnglishCorridorDisplay


WW1 History and Literature Tour of Belgium and France

WW1History


Harry Potter World

HarryPotterWorld


Whispersofthewoods


TheChimneySweepers


RoaldDahlDay

Lexia Power Up

Lexia Power Up

Harborne Academy places a high priority on developing our students’ literacy skills and helping them to enjoy a love of reading.

To support students in developing the reading skills that will enable them to access and enjoy the whole curriculum, Harborne Academy has licences to use Lexia Powerup Literacy.

Lexia Powerup is a computer-based program that has helped millions of students. It is designed to help students become proficient readers, confident learners and GCSE-ready. The program is broken up into three distinct strands that students work in concurrently: Word Study, Grammar and Comprehension.

Students are able to use their Lexia licence both inside and outside school.

Lexia

Lexia-Power-Up-Scope-and-Sequence.pdfHow-to-Log-on-to-Lexia-PowerUp.pdf

Reading Lists

Subject Reading Lists
Art Design Technology Drama
English English Plus Food
French Geography History
Maths Music PE
Religious Education Science Spanish
Additional Reading Lists
Black Authors and Black Experiences Fiction for Year 7
Fiction for Year 8 Graphic Novels
KS2 - KS3 Transition LGBTQI+
Manga Women-Authored Books

100 Books

Capture

Dear reader,

Well done for trying to broaden your reading and attempting some of the ‘100 Books’!

Of course, these are not the only books you should try to read. They are in the collection because teachers across the country voted for them as being important books students should read before they leave secondary school. 

Some of the books are short and can be read relatively quickly; others are much longer reads. Some of the books are accessible to most secondary students; others are quite demanding. Some books may be challenging due to the language used in them; others because of the content and subject matter they deal with.

Books that contain sensitive themes and content some people may find offensive have content warnings inside them. They may include language that was considered acceptable at the time the book was written, but would not be appropriate today, for example, racist terminology. They may also include sexual content.

To fully appreciate and enjoy some of the 100 Books, we recommend that you spend time researching the author, the book, and the context in which it was written. There are many short videos on YouTube that can support you with this research.

Don’t forget to let us know how you are getting on.

Happy reading!

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11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90
91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

100 Books Student Booklet

Reading Support for Parents

Supporting Your Child’s Reading

Great readers are created when there is a partnership between school and home. There is so much families can do to support their child’s reading journey, regardless of their ability or level of enthusiasm. Students are never too old to be encouraged to read so we have included some resources we hope parents and carers will find useful.

If you have any questions about supporting your child with their reading, please contact their Head of Year.

What Type of Reader is Your Child? The 8 Rs

A Guide to the Eight Types of Reader

Relisher

Reads 30 – 40 books a year

Regular

Reads 10 – 15 copies a year

Rusher

Reads in bursts

Reluctant

Reads occasionally

Realist

Lacks the focus to read novels

Rejecter

Only reads if forced to

Rechanneler

Distracted by the online world

Regretter

Wants to read but has problems

Reading-Fluency.pdfReading-Questions-for-Parents.pdf

Vocabulary

Word of the Week

Click on a date to see the Word of the Week for that week.

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Subject Vocabulary Lists
Art Business GCSE Drama
English English Plus Food
French Geography History
PE Spanish  

 

Vocabulary continued - Science

Science

Science Vocabulary List - Year 7
Introduction to Science Life Processes and Cells Elements
Energy Reproduction Particles
Forces Botany  
Science Vocabulary List - Year 8
Chemical Reactions Electricity Nutrition
Mixtures Motion Respiration
Acids and Alkalis Waves The Skeletal and Muscular Systems
Transferring Energy    
Science Vocabulary List - Year 9
Chemical Reactions Transferring Energy Health and Disease
Statics and Magnetism Geology and Geochemistry Light and Sound
Ecology Energetics and Kinetics Pressure, Density, Moments and Momentum
Genetics Astronomy  
Combined Science (Biology) Glossaries
CB1 Glossary CB2 Glossary CB3 Glossary
CB4 Glossary CB5 Glossary CB6 Glossary
CB7 Glossary CB8 Glossary CB9 Glossary
Combined Science (Chemistry) Glossaries
CC1-2 Glossary CC3-4 Glossary CC5-7 Glossary
CC8 Glossary CC9 Glossary CC10-12 Glossary
CC13-15 Glossary CC16-17 Glossary  
Combined Science (Physics) Glossaries
CP1 Glossary CP2 Glossary CP3 Glossary
CP4 Glossary CP5 Glossary CP6 Glossary
CP7-8 Glossary CP9 Glossary CP10-11 Glossary
CP 12-13 Glossary    
Triple Science (Biology) Glossaries
SB1 Glossary SB2 Glossary SB3 Glossary
SB4 Glossary SB5 Glossary SB6 Glossary
SB7 Glossary SB8 Glossary SB9 Glossary
Triple Science (Chemistry) Glossaries
SC1-2 Glossary SC3-4 Glossary SC5-7 Glossary
SC8 Glossary SC9-13 Glossary SC14-16 Glossary
SC17 Glossary SC18 Glossary SC19 Glossary
SC20-21 Glossary SC22-24 Glossary SC25-26 Glossary
Triple Science (Physics) Glossaries
SP1 Glossary SP2 Glossary SP3 Glossary
SP4 Glossary SP5 Glossary SP6 Glossary
SP7 Glossary SP8-9 Glossary SP10-11 Glossary
SP12-13 Glossary    

Word of the Week

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@@HarborneAcademy04:10 PM - 29th November, 2024 To see what’s been happening at the Academy, please read our weekly newsletter via the link below or from our website.Read more
@@HarborneAcademy10:43 AM - 29th November, 2024 Today in Food Technology our year 9 students are cooking Chili con carne. Yum, yum! pic.twitter.com/ZdWnfFKdcu
@@HarborneAcademy09:28 AM - 26th November, 2024 As part of a reward for receiving the most house points, some year 7 students enjoyed a delicious treat this morning. Well done to you all! pic.twitter.com/gr9OBl5u7b
@@HarborneAcademy07:33 AM - 26th November, 2024 Our theme of the week. pic.twitter.com/3MJUc6pmA9
@@HarborneAcademy07:30 AM - 26th November, 2024 Congratulations to this week's stars of the week! pic.twitter.com/4sqo2K0Knh
@@HarborneAcademy02:34 PM - 25th November, 2024 Congratulations to this week’s top scorers! pic.twitter.com/gUnWzdqVqm
@@HarborneAcademy08:46 AM - 25th November, 2024 To see what’s been happening at the Academy, please read our weekly newsletter via the link below or from our website.Read more
@@HarborneAcademy10:11 AM - 21st November, 2024 Congratulations to our winners Anastasia, Max, Iqra and Shalom who entered our Christmas Card and Remembrance Day competitions.Well done to everyone that entered. It was a very hard decision! pic.twitter.com/Rf6ypZuGtw
@@HarborneAcademy08:58 AM - 21st November, 2024 A group of GCSE Drama students visited BOA Stage and Screen to experience workshops from course leaders at their college. Students participated in a range of activities from costume design and hair & makeup to film editing and acting.  pic.twitter.com/32iUWJbvyD
@@HarborneAcademy02:27 PM - 20th November, 2024 Our year 9 students enjoyed a day at Birmingham Thinktank! pic.twitter.com/kiMIdwSoMk
@@HarborneAcademy09:13 AM - 20th November, 2024 If you would like to enter in our talent show, please come to the Movement room (Trampoline room) every Monday or Friday lunchtime. pic.twitter.com/nfvi7BoLvm
@@HarborneAcademy08:53 AM - 20th November, 2024 In preparation for the abroad skiing trip, students enjoyed a taster session at Ackers. pic.twitter.com/cMgtY5zkzv
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