Co-op Academy Grange
Co-op Academy Grange is a large coeducational secondary school on the outskirts of Bradford, serving a diverse multicultural student body of approximately 1,500 students. As a rapidly improving institution, Co-op Academy Grange is dedicated to creating a nurturing, inclusive environment that supports both the personal and academic growth of its students, empowering them to reach their full potential.
In this case study, we hear about how the school librarian, Dianne Blashill, promotes a reading for pleasure culture despite the challenges faced by limited budget and resource.
Promoting reading for pleasure at Co-op Academy Grange
About the school
Co-op Academy Grange is a large coeducational secondary school on the outskirts of Bradford, serving a diverse multicultural student body of approximately 1,500 students. As a rapidly improving institution, Co-op Academy Grange is dedicated to creating a nurturing, inclusive environment that supports both the personal and academic growth of its students, empowering them to reach their full potential.
In June 2024, the school proudly achieved the British Council International School Awards at Foundation level, in recognition of its efforts to promote global awareness in the classroom. The achievement highlights the school’s commitment to breaking down cultural barriers and fostering communication skills through its collaboration with a partner school in France.
The library at Co-op Academy Grange has recently moved to a smaller space and has been thoughtfully redesigned by the school librarian of several years, Dianne Blashill, to ensure their Accelerated Reader collections are easily accessible, and that there are dedicated areas for non-fiction, revision materials, careers information, and university prospectuses.
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Dianne to learn more about the library space, its reading initiatives, technology integration, and the challenges faced in promoting literacy.
The reading culture at Co-op Academy Grange
Like many UK schools, Co-op Academy Grange faces significant challenges with promoting reading for pleasure. Dianne says, “Attitudes to reading can be very mixed. It’s like Marmite, some children absolutely love it, but others, find it a chore.” The school also navigates many barriers, including digital poverty affecting students’ access to technology, cultural and social factors, resource, and school budget limitations. However, Dianne, demonstrates an unwavering commitment to fostering a reading for pleasure culture amongst its diverse student cohort with initiatives that aim to give every child the chance to become a reader. Dianne says, “Unfortunately, many children don’t have access to books at home. At school, we have a variety of programs that promote literacy and encourage library engagement. In Years 7-10, there is a structured Tutor Time Reading Program, while library lessons for Years 7 and 8 feature Reciprocal Reading sessions focused on grammar and comprehension. Students can also get involved with judging the prestigious Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize to give them positive reading experiences and new opportunities outside of their comfort zone.” Dianne’s focus is to develop positive attitudes towards reading. She says, “My aim is to get more students reading for pleasure. I’m working on a two-tier Book Club this year for lower and higher-level readers.” With many students from diverse cultural backgrounds and with family responsibilities that often limit after-school clubs, Book Club is run during Tutor Time to ensure every student can join in.
Dianne works to support struggling students with targeted sessions focused on class reads and 1-2-1 reading. Through these specialised sessions, she has seen individual student success in reading engagement; “It’s a very worthwhile and fulfilling project. I was working with a student who’s fourteen years old, who finished his first book with me, and his sense of achievement was amazing to witness.”
Dianne works with a group of student librarians to develop skills in library management helping to enhance their personal statements. Dianne says, “The student librarians love helping at lunchtime and using the Reading Cloud platform to catalogue books. We aim to create experiences and opportunities within the school day for students to learn new skills.”
Dianne continues to adapt and find creative solutions to ensure that students, particularly those without access to books at home, have the change to engage with literature and develop crucial literacy and reading skills.
Impressions of Reading Cloud
For managing the library, Dianne is a proficient user of Reading Cloud and finds it fulfils her needs. “Reading Cloud is great; it does everything I need it to and I’m confident using its tools and features. We used to have Reading Cloud lessons where I’d show the students how to search and reserve books, and we also used to play book bingo as part of their English lessons using the Reading Cloud search functionality. It worked really well.”
Dianne’s aims for the library this academic year include increasing borrower rates after last year’s library move saw some decline and further the school’s mission of promoting reading for pleasure by working alongside the English department and other librarians in the group.
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