Delta Academies Trust believes that reading is central to the development of
our students and has implemented ‘Reading Routes’ for all its secondary
academies to encourage as many students as possible to read for
pleasure. A key aim of our ‘Reading Routes’ initiative is to foster a love of
reading for leisure and pleasure whilst widening the cultural experiences of
our students and ultimately broadening their learning beyond the core
curriculum.

Academies and students have reacted with excitement at the launch of
‘Reading Routes’ and have already started to enjoy the books on our routes. In
addition, students have embraced the programme as they immerse
themselves into a variety of different books that they previously might not
have envisioned themselves reading. Whilst helping to improve their
confidence and self-esteem through developing their reading skills. Reading
Routes has also strengthened the school community through a shared
reading experience.

As part of the nine main reading routes, students will be exposed to a range of
genres:
• Comedy central
• Crime & Mystery
• History
• Adventure
• Thriller
• Fantasy
• Must Read Classics
• Humour
• Mystery

In addition, we have several specialised optional routes for our students to
explore:
• Explorer
• Sport
• Development
• Inspiration/Aspiration
• Environment

Not only do our book choices encourage students to engage with genres they
might not usually find themselves reading, but they will also be exposed to
unfamiliar topics to broaden their understanding of the world around them. It
is important that our books choices, in the form of both fiction and non-fiction
books, reflect the range and interest of our students.

As part of the Reading Routes programme, there is a route map, based on the
London Tube Map, which consists of 14 different routes (genres), with around
74 books in total along the routes. Each route interconnects and travels
through the local area to meet with other Delta secondary academies.

Across each half term, students see the launch of a different route genre with
6 specified book titles which students will chose from. Concurrently, staff are
also reading a book from each route to further encourage discussions and
build a sense of community based around reading. The act of collaborative
reading has created further engagement for our students as they find a
network of staff and students who are also reading the same book. This
collaboration has allowed us to explore the titles in detail through form
leaning time, assemblies and by making a connection with our books’ authors.
As a further reward, students are given personalised certificates for every 5
books they read, and each route they complete. If they achieve a magnificent
50 books, they receive a tablet device. Currently, there are several students
well on course to achieve this in the coming months!