Habs Launches Community Reading Initiative

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.”
– Mortimer J. Adler

As part of a new initiative, Haberdashers is introducing the School community to a wide, diverse and challenging range of topics and authors, tackling themes and issues which our students might not normally address in their everyday reading.

Each boy from Years 10-13 has already been given one of two books to read over half term. The first of these is The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, centring on the true story of a young boy sent to a reform school for a crime he did not commit; while the second is the critically acclaimed The Long Song by Andrea Levy, a fictional memoir depicting the life of a young girl on a sugarcane plantation.

These first two books address issues surrounding diversity, black history and make the discussion of discrimination necessary. Future themes will include equally important topics and will no doubt provoke conversations in the classroom, playground and over the dinner table at home.

It is intended that this shared community experience will foster a new-found enjoyment of reading among our pupils, while also introducing them to a variety of genres and manifold topics relevant to today’s society.

Mr Sykes, Deputy Head Academic, said: “It has been fantastic to see students take to our shared community reading initiative with such enthusiasm. It is so important for young people to appreciate diverse voices in the literary world.  With this initiative we are celebrating reading for pleasure, developing a broad sense of scholarship across the school, and encouraging our whole community to broaden their cultural perspectives.”

Mr Amlot, Director of Sixth Form, addressed Years 12 and 13 during the assembly launch of this initiative, listing several benefits that reading can provide. One of which being empathy: “Reading a novel is one of the best ways of developing empathy – this is hardly surprising, as empathy is all about being able to view life from other perspectives and reading inspires us to do exactly this.”

Zain, Year 10 student, said: “I believe communal reading is important as it brings a sense of collaboration and a deeper understanding of the book that you are reading. I have enjoyed this because I have gained a better understanding of the book and it makes me want to read more.”

Samarijit, Year 10 student, said: “I think that reading as a community helps everyone involved and is definitely a positive thing to do. You can read an interesting book with your friends and share discussions about them, which also helps strengthen your relationships with your peers.”

Matt, Year 13, said: “I’m looking forward to enhancing my reading about issues which aren’t linked to my other subjects. The project has really allowed me to read about topical issues such as those regarding race and other cultures.”