What is Astrea Reads?

Astrea Reads is a chance for all scholars to read each day with their tutor. Every scholar has the same copy of a novel and tracks the reading with a ruler. Teachers model expressive and fluent reading and scholars are selected to read sections of the text in the class. This develops confidence and reading ability. Teachers ensure that the scholars are following the text and regularly ask questions to check for understanding. Difficult words are taught, allowing children to expand their vocabulary rapidly. By the end of Y10, they will have read 25 full novels.

What happens if scholars struggle to read?

We test every scholar when they join us to check their reading ability. Those who are significantly behind benefit from a one-to-one reading programme called Thinking Reading. We find that those scholars catch up rapidly so that they don’t get left behind.

Where else do we read?

Over 10,000 words a day are read by every scholar through reading in their subjects, alongside Astrea Reads and the reading that they do for pleasure. Our library has recently been restocked with hundreds of books that link to the curriculum. We also have titles that are topical or scholars find fun and enjoyable.

Astrea Reads Reading List

Year 7

  • The Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen  
  • The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Rauf  
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 
  • Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman  
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 
  • Wonder by RJ Palcio 
  • The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien 
  • Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry

Year 8

  • The Call of the Wild by Jack London  
  • Chinglish by Sue Cheung  
  • Northern Lights by Philip Pullman  
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 
  • I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai 
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 
  • The Giver by Lois Lowry 

Year 9

  • The Boxer by Nikesh Shukla  
  • The Time Machine by H G Wells 
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 
  • The Outsiders by S E Hinton 
  • War of the Worlds by H G Wells 
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding 
  • The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte 
  • I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings: by Maya Angelou 

Key Stage 4

  • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
  • 1984 by George Orwell 
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 
  • The Dubliners by James Joyce 
  • Life of Pi by Yann Martel 
  • The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 
  • The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald