DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) sessions are an integral part of our KS3 reading culture, with a dedicated 30-minute slot each day to ensure consistent, focused engagement with reading. The school has implemented this daily provision because developing strong literacy skills is crucial to students’ academic success, confidence, and wider life opportunities.
Across Key Stage 3, students engage with carefully selected texts that broaden their understanding of the world and deepen their emotional and intellectual awareness. Year 7 focus on books linked to a green theme, encouraging reflection on nature, sustainability, and the environment. Year 8 explore texts centred around key issues and concepts, supporting critical thinking and discussion of real-world themes. Year 9 read books connected to “ours and others’ worlds,” helping students consider diverse perspectives, cultures, and experiences.
These sessions are structured to extend vocabulary, build reading confidence, and strengthen comprehension skills. They also play a vital role in personal development, as students are encouraged to explore a range of human emotions, decisions, and situations through literature, fostering empathy, reflection, and a deeper understanding of themselves and others.
| Year 7 – Green themes | Year 8 – issues and concepts | Year 9 – ours and others worlds |
| Swimming Against the Storm by Jess Butterworth | One in a Hundred Thousand by Linni Ingemunson | The Bone Sparrow by Zana Franillion |
| Scavengers by Darren Simpson | I Dare You by Tamsin Winter | Kick by Mitch Johnson |
| The Song of the Dolphin Boy by Elizabeth Laird | Black Brother, Black Brother By Jewell Parker Rhodes | The Infinity Files by S.M. Wilson |
| Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargreaves | Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah | Contender: The Chosen by Taran Matharu |
| When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle
(extra book if required) |
We Are All Made of Molecules by Susan Nielsen (extra book if required) | I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys |
| This Book Will (help) Cool the Planet | You Can Change the World!: By Margaret Rooke | Black and British by David Olusoga |