Library

Senior School Library

Our Library is a central part of school life. It is a ‘haven’ where students are encouraged to read and study quietly. It is designed for two main purposes: to extend the curriculum and to inspire a love of reading. 

Our Library is staffed by a professional librarian who is available for advice on anything from finding the right book for homework, to wider reading suggestions. Exhibitions, displays and reading provide continuous inspiration.

Our Library has over 8,000 items in its collection available for loan or reference. It is open daily from 8.00am to 6.00pm and provides an up-to-date information service to both staff and students. The Library has 25 networked laptops, with internet access and academic software. Periodicals are available on subjects as diverse as sciences, the arts, politics, economics and current affairs.

Our Librarian organises many activities throughout the year including: book clubs, author visits, book fairs, competitions and quizzes, and book award shadowing. We shadow the Carnegie Book Award in collaboration with local schools and also The Guardian’s Children’s Fiction Prize. We take part in the GDST book award, organised collaboratively by the GDST librarians, which highlights the best in new reading for our students. 

Information and referencing skills contribute significantly to the students’ capacity to manage their work.  To support this, the library runs an information skills programme which teaches the students how to handle information. The aim is that all students gain the confidence to become independent, self-motivated, life-long learners.

Junior School Library

Our girls thoroughly enjoy their time in the Library. It is a bright, colourful space for the girls to enjoy their love of books. Our Library offers a wide range of reading materials to support learning and stimulate curiosity. Fiction books include both popular authors and classical novels. The girls have access to a broad variety of information books as well as books that include topical issues and curriculum based learning. There is also a wonderful variety of bi-language books on offer in the Library, as well as a section for modern foreign languages. Supporting our ethos of resilience within the school, the girls have access to a range of books on ‘Growth Mindset’ and ‘Wellbeing.’ Our girls enjoy using the KOBO e-readers which provide opportunity to use alternative mediums for research and enquiry.

Our pupils attend a library lesson each week, when they are encouraged to loan a book of their choice and enjoy the facilities our Library has to offer. Our Library is also used within curriculum lessons to support learning or aid research on a topic.

Our Year 6 Library Prefects help with all aspects of the Library, from cataloguing books, to running a Library Club for Year 1 pupils, which they thoroughly enjoy.