On Monday morning, just before breaktime, our school fell silent and we all participated in a Drop Everything and Read or DEAR event across all lessons and office spaces in the school. Raising the profile of reading is so important and sits within our wider context of encouraging regular reading and the development of high standards of literacy for all.

I was taking a Year 11 Maths class at the time and some of the photos show how well all the Year 11 mathematicians and Learning Assistant Mr Dada engaged with the 15 minute DEAR event. I also enjoyed reading for 15 minutes alongside everyone else. The other photo is that of Miss Timmin’s A Level maths class – again all Sixth Form students demonstrating how important reading is and showing how it underpins all learning at and beyond our school.