Library

The TFA library is found in the heart of the school. At TFA, we champion the role of our library in developing every child’s intellectual and emotional growth, paving the way for their personal development. The library at TFA provides a safe and inclusive environment for quiet reading, study and clubs. At a time when many public and school libraries are facing cuts, we are very proud of our growing and enriching collection of fiction and non fiction books as well as subject related journals such as The Economist ; there really is something for everyone, both staff and students.

Reading is an integral aspect of our curriculum, across all subjects. The joy of reading is something we wish to instill in all our pupils and removing barriers to reading is something we as a school are passionate about. This is why we have invested in an online library for all our pupils to access using this link online library. Reading should be conducted by pupils all year round, although we do appreciate there is more time at the weekends and holidays to enjoy some unadulterated reading.

Research shows most children would prefer to be on the internet than read a book. We believe having access to a physical library and eBooks will motivate pupils to read. Some of the great benefits of reading compiled by The School Library Association highlights:

  • “Leisure reading makes students more articulate, develops higher order reasoning, and promotes critical thinking.” National Endowment for the Arts in ‘To read or not to read’.
  •  “Reading for pleasure is more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status.” OECD, Reading for Change, Programme for International Student Assessment
  • “…research presents overwhelming evidence that literacy has a significant relationship with a person’s happiness and success.” NLT
  • “According to one source, if you read for twenty minutes a day you’ll encounter an estimated 1,800,000 words over the course of a year whereas reading for only one minute a day will result in only 8,000 words.” David Didau

https://www.learningspy.co.uk/literacy/closing-language-gap-building-vocabulary/

Reading Recommendations

As part of our commitment to the academic growth of every pupil, the Library is managed by a full-time passionate Librarian, Ms Anderson. To ensure the library can respond to individual students’ tastes and requirements, pupils can request new titles through our online platform, or they can inform Ms Anderson. Our Library is well resources with study areas for silent study, computers and laptops with headphones for homework and large sofas for relaxation whilst reading.

Ms Anderson organises a rich and varied programme of extra-curricular after school clubs, as well as year-round wider events such as author visits to the School, book fairs, displays to promote reading for pleasure, a World Book day extravaganza, writing competitions and reading events to name but a few.