Reading and Literacy
At Jamiatul Ummah School, we recognise the importance of reading in promoting effective literacy skills. Reading widely and frequently helps develop confidence, knowledge and skills which in turn has a positive impact in all subjects and learning areas.
In addition to promoting literacy in different subject areas, the school has developed several initiaves to support literacy growth:
- Yearly Reading List
- Dedicated DEAR time
- Participating in Young Writer's Award Competition
- Participating in Young Muslim Writer's Award Competition
Yearly Reading List
Each pupil is provided a yearly reading list which consists of 10 fiction books carefully chosen to match age and challenge (The Guardian Newspaper).
| Year 7 Reading List | Year 8 Reading List | Year 9 Reading List |
|---|---|---|
| Watership Down - Richard Adams The Goldfish Boy - Lisa Thomson The Island at the End of Everything - Kiran Millwood Hargrave The Wolves of Willoughby - Chase Joan Aiken Peter Pan - JM Barrie The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper The Seeing Stone - Kevin Crossley Boy and Going Solo - Roald Dahl The Diary of a Young - Girl Anne Frank The Weirdstone of Brisingamen - Alan Garner | Madam Doubtfire - Anne Fine Welcome to Nowhere - Elizabeth Laird Animal Farm - George Orwell The Coral Island - RM Ballantyne Coram Boy - Jamila Gavin The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon The Day of the Triffids- -John Wyndham The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson A Kestrel for a Knave - Barry Hines Lord of the Flies - William Golding | Maladapted - by Richard Kurti A Christmas Carol - by Charles Dickens Brave New World - by Aldous Huxley Catch-22 - by Joseph Heller The Catcher on the Rye - by JD Salinger The Count of Monte Cristo - by Alexander Dumas Dracula - by Bram Stoker Empire of the Sun - by JG Ballard Frankenstein - by Mary Shelley Shakespeare: The World as a Stage - by Bill Bryson The Old Man and the Sea - by Ernest Hemingway |
DEAR Time
One lesson a week is dedicated to whole class reading in school known as DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time. The lesson is rotated weekly to avoid disruption to subject learning. Pupils will read a selection of books carefully chosen to engage and enthuse a love for reading.
Participation in the Young Writer's Award
Jamiatul Ummah frequently participates in the Young Writer's Award held annualy to further promote reading and writing. In 2018, one of our pupils won the final in the Young Muslim Writer's Award Competition. The pupil has now gone on to authoring his own books.