Hide Search Bar
BMAT Logoclose

Outstanding Education

Supporting primary and secondary schools across Essex and North & East London, BMAT is a growing multi-academy trust with a singular vision: schools, teachers and pupils freed to succeed.

Visit BMAT

Reading

Research has shown that reading for pleasure makes a big difference to children’s educational performance. Children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading test than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. In fact, reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background.

 

Learning to read is about listening and understanding as well as working out what’s printed on the page. Through hearing stories, children are exposed to a wide range of words. This helps them build their own vocabulary and improve their understanding when they listen, which is vital as they start to read. Below is a suggested reading list for your child over the summer holidays.

Year 7 suggested reading

Fight Back – A.M.Dassu

Can You See Me? – Libby Scott & Rebecca Westcott

The Marvellers – Dhonielle Clayton

Glowrushes – Roberto Piumini

Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm – Ash Bond

When I See Blue – Lily Bailey

Pig Heart Boy – Malorie Blackman

Flyaway – Lucy Christopher

Year 8 suggested reading

The Wordsmith – Patricia Forde

No Fixed Address – Susin Nielsen

Kerb-Stain Boys – Alex Wheatle

Stay A Little Longer – Bali Rai

Like A Girl – Rebecca Westcott

The Five Clues – Anthony Kessel

Rugby Flyer – Gerald Siggins

Toffee – Sarah Crossan

Year 9 suggested reading

The Boy in Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne

King of Nothing – Nathanael Lessore

You’ll Be the Death of Me – Karen M.McManus

The Secrets Act – Alison Weatherby

Every Line of You – Naomi Gibson

Thief – Malorie Blackman

The Day of the Jackel – Frederick Forsyth

Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Year 10 suggested reading

The Fault in our Stars – John Green

My Left Foot – Christy Brown

Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier

Sophie’s World – Jostein Gaarder

Touching the Void – Joe Simpson

The Bosy in the Library – Agatha Christie

Tarzan of the Apes – Edgar Rice Burroughs

Boys Don’t Cry – Malorie Blackman

Year 11 suggested reading

The Women in Black – Susan Hill

I Boy – Kevin Brooks

Dead Time – Anne Cassidy

The Girl You Left Behind – Jojo Moyes

Confessions of a Murder Suspect – James Patterson

Blood, Sweat and Tears – Bear Grylls

I Loved You in Another Life – David Arnold

Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo

 

 

Year 6 Summer Reading List

 

Try and read five of these books over the holidays.

 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Boy X by Dan Smith

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Demolition Dad by Phil Earle

El Deafo by Cece Bell

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Holes by Louis Sachar

How to Capture an Invisible Cat by Paul Tobin

Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens

My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish by Mo O’Hara

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Perijee and Me by Ross Montgomery

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick

Small Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans

The Astounding Broccoli Boy by Frank Cottrell Boyce

The Dreamsnatcher by Abi Elphinstone

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Map to Everywhere by Carrie Ryan and John Parke Davis

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

The School For Good and Evil by Soman Chainini

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

 

Year 7 reading ages test - https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal?state=CfDJ8PfHb2fWiHBJn1LpqAd49_8FGlcTPYnd_Xb4r1zZtLD9zhXywRQC_KQ8N_oMxRx28gUwvbwqYeUIrIcMxNlj06zYLejZJ_fY7fytp3jPvy4jD57ZHrHTZd9qMxyVrMIlEmaEFOCR9NToEdmP5Y3fugO0r7bel3wAB4ArEC3npI4VdOEon11BP6kxWVE_1RuT_KUB2J3pzFnWpFOn7Psqc_o

 


 

School website by Cleverbox