READING NEWSLETTER
Issue No. 17 Christmas 2025
Welcome back to the St Cuthbert’s Reading Newsletter. In this festive edition, we are celebrating reading across the school as the year draws to a close. You will find a celebration of Sparx Reader success, our St Cuthbert’s Library Wrapped, and a selection of festive reading recommendations to enjoy over the holidays. As always, we have included contributions from staff and pupils, showcasing the brilliant reading culture at St Cuthbert’s.
Kindling a School-Wide Love of Reading with Sparx! What started as a small spark with Sparx Reader has quickly fanned into a full-on flame, igniting a genuine love of reading across the school. It has been fantastic to see so many boys across Key Stage 3 reading well beyond what has been set by their teachers, with the enthusiasm spreading from one reader to the next. We have seen boys blaze past key milestones, achieving 5,000 SRP (over 8 hours of reading), 10,000 SRP (over 16 hours), 15,000 SRP (25 hours), and an impressive 25,000 SRP (41 hours). These achievements represent real commitment and a growing enjoyment of reading for pleasure. A huge shout-out goes to Umar Mohamed Fouzer in Year 9, who truly set the bar alight with an outstanding 45,000 SRP this term - the equivalent of 75 hours of reading. Absolutely fantastic! All boys received a certificate to mark their achievements. Let us keep adding fuel to the fire and fanning this love of reading across the school.
That’s a wrap! This year, our readers were on repeat. With 6,312 books borrowed, the library was officially the most-visited venue in school. Jeff Kinney topped the charts as our most-borrowed author, proving that ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ is still a popular read. Action and Adventure dominated the genre playlists, while classics like ‘Harry Potter’ mixed seamlessly with graphic novel favourites such as ‘Amulet’. From laugh-out-loud Wimpy moments to magical re-reads, 2025 was a year of page-turners, plot twists, and no skipped chapters. Same time next year?