Reading & the Library

Reading is a skill that many of us may take for granted. However, reading is a skill that is essential for being able to get on in life. Reading is a gateway subject. Reading makes success in other subjects possible.  

Reading is, therefore, important to future success. At St Cuthbert’s we believe that, "if you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books." (Roald Dahl) and that "books are a uniquely portable magic." (Stephen King)

As your son grows up, being able to read well not only enables him to discover new facts and to learn at school, but also opens him up to a world of new ideas, stories, and opportunities.

Research shows that children who read for pleasure are more likely to achieve highly in academic subjects and beyond. St Cuthbert’s is committed to ensuring that all pupils become independent and fluent readers, building on the skills learnt at primary school and at home.

We work to help our boys lose themselves in books, to help them expand their vocabulary and improve their memory. We work to ensure that reading will fire their imagination and let them “travel without moving their feet” (Jhumpa Lahiri).  We have a passion for teaching our pupils to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted by it. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.

Staff in character for World Book Day

Our school library is in the Canon Cassidy Centre. 

The library is a new and fantastic resource centre with a collection of fiction and nonfiction books, eBooks and audiobooks, comics, graphic novels, magazines, and laptops for pupil use. You can search our entire library collection here. 

It is staffed by a full-time qualified librarian who is available to help with reading development, research, and homework. It also hosts our daily Chess Club. 

Kitchen Staff cook up a literary feast on World Book Day