Scholastic Digital Book Club

We are pleased to partner with Scholastic Books and offer parents the chance to join our Digital Book Club.

How it works

Every term, Denbigh School will open up orders on the Scholastic website. By using the link below parents can buy brand new books at a discounted price from the available catalogue. There are books for all ages available. For every book that parents buy, the school earns 10% to spend on books from the Scholastic website to help keep our library up to date and accessible to all.

Scholastic Digital Book Club: https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/denbigh-mk5/digital-book-club

School Library

Our School Library is based in our Independent Learning Centre and offers students an extensive range of books to borrow and hosts activities and competitions for all year groups across the school year.  The highlight of the year is our Annual Book Fair, held in collaboration with Scholastic, where students can purchase popular publications. 

The Library has its own website where students can make reservations, create reading lists, and write book reviews.  The Library also offers a study space for up to 30 students to utilize.

Library Website (http://uk.accessit.online/dnb00)

‘On the Shelf’, the Library Newsletter is produced every month detailing what is happening in the library.

The library also produces recommended reading lists for students, for example they produce a ‘If you like this you should read this’ guide detailing possible alternative reading choices.

They also produce welcome guides for new Year 7 and 12 students detailing what the Library offers them and a recommended reading list for them as they prepare to start secondary school and the Sixth Form.

KS3 students may borrow up to two books at a time and keep them for one week.  KS4 students can borrow three books for a week and KS5 students can borrow four books for ten days.  Fiction books are catalogued by the author, alphabetically and Non-fiction books are classified using the standard Dewey system. 

Denbigh’s Librarian is Ms Victoria-Melita Zammit and she can be contacted on zammitv@denbigh.net.

Please see the guidance regarding library use below.

Year 10 Work Experience

As part of the Year 10 Work Experience Programme, a student worked with Ms Zammit in the School Library and wrote a report encouraging others to apply for the placement in future years.

Reading

Reading is essential to education and evidence suggests that regular reading for pleasure has a positive impact on overall proficiency, not just in reading but also in writing and spoken language, as well as overall academic progress.  By reading we acquire knowledge and there is a strong correlation between reading and examination success. We encourage students in every Year group to engage with wider reading and this aspect is a key part of having an outstanding Attitude to Learning.

Literacy and reading are actively promoted within our school community.  All new Year 7 students are encouraged to read a core text ‘The Lion above the Door’ during the summer holidays before starting at Denbigh School.  During the first week at Denbigh School, all Year 7 lessons are based on this book, providing opportunities to explore what they have read and developed their knowledge across the curriculum.  Additionally, teachers share information about books that they are reading, and we have an established book club with our Sixth Form.

We complete baseline assessments of student reading abilities on entry to Year 7, to identify those who may require additional support, stretch, and challenge.  For students with a below-average standardised score for reading are invited to take part in our reading group intervention.  This highly successful intervention group is run by an HLTA and students attend sessions for up to three hours per week.

Widening our vocabulary also forms part of our reading programme and we have a Word of the Week to support this.  The word is shared in tutorial each Monday and then used throughout the week.  We have looked at words such as – discerning, inadvertently, complacent and abundance.  Students can earn a special reward for using the word in their own work. 

Please see our Reading Statement of Intent below.

Independent Learning Centre

The Independent Learning Centre (ILC) provides computers for students, including Sixth Formers, to use during the school day.  Sixth form students can access this facility throughout the day, whilst students in Years 7 – 11 can use the computer facilities at break and lunch.  The ILC is available for students in Years 7 and 8 to use after school via booked places.  Some lessons may also take place in the ILC during the school day.