Love for Literacy  

At Hillbrook, we aim to inspire our pupils to become confident, enthusiastic and reflective readers, who appreciate the importance of reading as a life-long skill in the wider world, but also value books as a source of pleasure and enjoyment.

We develop a love of reading through our curriculum and environment by investing in high-quality, inclusive and diverse texts, creating inviting reading areas and simply giving children the time to read and listen to stories.  Our school reading spine ensures that children experience a wide range of quality books as part of whole class teaching. We are committed to ensuring that the books that our children read and enjoy are not just a window to the world but also a mirror in which all of our children have the opportunity to see themselves reflected.

The Library

Our fantastic library is an oasis of calm, full of wonderful books to be enjoyed! Every class visits the library at least once a week where children can browse and borrow books, cosy up with a good read or enjoy some class story time together. Enjoy a virtual tour led by our librarians below: 

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Key Events

Special events such as National poetry week, Book Fairs and World Book Week celebrate reading and visits from authors and storytellers as well as competitions such as ‘Battle of the Books’, nurture children’s reading habits and keep the profile and enjoyment of reading high. Our school librarians are responsible for spreading a love of reading and work hard to ensure that learning environments and libraries are well-stocked and inviting. ‘Reading buddies’ are in place across the school and some classes benefit from the support of a trained parent volunteer. Reading support is also offered by volunteers recruited by Learn2Love to Read and Beanstalk charities.

Our 2023 World Book Day event:

Our weekly newsletter ‘Hillbrook Highlights’ offers suggestions of diverse authors, poets and illustrators and advertises key upcoming literacy events. We offer parent workshops across the year that target specific areas within literacy, providing support and strategies for parents.

Drama is woven throughout the curriculum and children enjoy theatre performances kindly funded by our PFTA as well as those delivered by our own pupils who attend Drama club. Most recently, our pupils are rehearsing for a musical production of ‘Matilda’.