Reading at HAGR
Guided reading
Here at HAGR, we believe that the embedded weekly practice of guided reading for thirty minutes, three times per week is essential in broadening tier 2 vocabulary, enriching cultural capital and ultimately improving exam performance.
According to Renaissance UK’s biggest-ever literacy study of more than 1 million children across hundreds of schools from all different demographics, exam results improved massively where guided reading was routinely practised.
Guided reading helps students develop greater control over the reading process through the development of reading strategies which assist in decoding meaning as well as enhancing their oracy skills by being able to talk more confidently about great literature. The teacher guides or ‘scaffolds’ their students as they read, talk and think their way through a text, completing various small text directed, focused tasks such as sequencing, text completion, scanning, skimming and inferring.
When readers have the opportunity to talk, think and read their way through a text, they build up self-confidence as well as their own systems in the future of decoding and ultimately enjoying reading. Quality literature is highly motivating to both students and teachers. Students prefer to learn with these texts and given the opportunity will choose these texts over traditional, ‘easy readers’.
Moreover, coupled with reading eclectic and ground-breaking books, the students will also experience a diverse range of short non-fiction texts throughout the year linked thematically to the novels. These are designed to help students comprehend more challenging texts through activating prior knowledge outlined in research by Keene and Zimmerman; understanding issues such as racism, religious extremism or PTSD before encountering them within a novel.
The Guided Reading curriculum
The Guided Reading curriculum has been carefully planned and sequenced:
Year 7-9 Morning Reading Currriculum Map (2025-2026)
Immersed within Morning Reading is a carefully sequenced body of fiction and non-fiction that deepens students’ understanding of migration, courage, justice and philosophical thought. In Year 7, students encounter the lived experience of displacement through Refugee Boy, explore Britain’s complex historical narrative in Black and British, consider inclusive relationships and identity in Nothing Ever Happens Here, and reflect on kindness, difference and belonging through Wonder. Together, these texts build empathy, cultural awareness and moral responsibility while strengthening students’ vocabulary and understanding of character and theme.
As students progress, Year 8 broadens their global and ethical perspective: they journey through imagination and heroism in The Hobbit, examine the struggle for girls’ education and human rights in I Am Malala and The Breadwinner, and develop compassion and resilience through Out of My Mind. By Year 9, reading becomes increasingly philosophical and political, as Noughts and Crosses confronts structural injustice and identity, Northern Lights explores power, belief and freedom, and Sophie’s World introduces enduring questions of ethics, knowledge and existence. Across Key Stage 3, this coherent reading journey enables students to engage with complex texts while reflecting thoughtfully on equality, democracy, moral courage and their place within society.
Academic Reading
KS5 students follow an academic reading programme. Students begin in Y12 with current affairs from law and order to the climate crisis and then sign up to an academic pathway that provides a bespoke package of academic reading and/or podcasts designed to promote academic thought around students’ chosen destinations.
Reading for pleasure
Not only can reading be highly enjoyable if someone finds the right genre to capture the imagination, but the evidence also tells us that the most successful people are all avid readers. Bill Gates still reads a minimum of 50 books per year and former US President Barack Obama described reading as ‘the gateway’ skill that makes all other learning possible. However, trends also tell us that many young people have fallen out of the habit of reading regularly as technology and other entertainment forms take the place of books.
A recent poll by the Independent newspaper found that gifting books as a Christmas present has declined by almost half in the past decade and this number is even higher amongst children. Thus, it is our mission to help our students develop a love of reading that will not only benefit their intellectual journey but also help build confidence, cultural capital and in many instances, support mental health. Reading is proven to help use the experiences they read about to develop empathy for people in the outside world – and to use their skills in ways that boost their self-esteem and confidence.
6th Form Reading
As part of our commitment to developing curious, well-informed and intellectually confident young people, we are delighted to share this wider-reading guide for our Sixth Form subjects. The books recommended here are not textbooks, but engaging, accessible and enriching titles chosen to broaden students’ horizons, deepen their understanding of the disciplines they study, and spark a genuine love of learning.
Click here for the 6th Form Reading beyond the curriculum list (2025/26)