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The Library

WELCOME TO OUR LIBRARY

Welcome to the library. This is a space for pupils to gather quietly, read, play chess and complete homework.

  • We have a fantastic selection of books, including many critically acclaimed and prize-winning novels.
  • The librarian, Ms McCarthy, is eager to match the right book for each pupil, and is a keen supporter of the right to read for pleasure. 
  • All pupils are members of the library and can borrow books for a period of 10 days. 

Photo of Connor Allen and 2 pupils

 Our library was opened by Newport-born poet Connor Allen,
former children’s Laureate of Wales. The library has been named the Connor Allen Library in his honour.
2026: THE NATIONAL YEAR OF READING 

Brilliant Books for High School Transition

Transitioning from primary to secondary school can bring up several common questions for year 6 pupils as they prepare to move on to Year 7.

Here are some of the books available in the library which may help ease that transition. 
St Joseph's RC High School library is a great place to make friends and discover common interests.
 
 

    Moving Up    You Are a Champion    

    

        

These are just some of the many books that contain stories about young people making a transition to something new and different. Reading acts as both an academic and emotional bridge during the transition to high school.

A National Literacy Trust report finds that finding characters who face similar life challenges helps children process their own feelings about change. 

Reading for pleasure also offers a screen-free break from any exhausting cognitive load of a new school routine.
READING AROUND THE WORLD: World Cup 2026
  
               

The football World Cup is a brilliant way to find out more about the many countries taking part in the competition and the school library is the ultimate departure lounge for a reading around the world challenge, offering pupils free and equal access to literature from a variety of authors set in many different places. 

Start your journey in the library today!

       

                    Toro! Toro!: Written by Michael Morpurgo, 2001 Edition, (First Edition, First Impression) Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks [Hardcover]

                    Flag of Spain

            

library news 

THE VERSE NOVEL CHALLENGE.

Congratulations WE WON!

Huge congratulations to Y7 and 8 Pupils who took part in the Verse Novel Challenge. This was a challenge created by the National Literacy Trust to encourage children to read Verse Novels. Our book group pupils recorded a stirring reading from The Crossing by Manjeet Mann just before the Christmas holiday, and in February they received the excellent news that they had won a £500 Amazon voucher to be spent on books for the library. The group has been busy asking as many pupils as they can, across all year groups, which books they would like to order. The top category was MANGA! Books will start to arrive this month.

 

     Verse Novel Challenge web banner

   How to encourage reading...

    Reading for 20 minutes a day has many benefits for children and young adults, including reducing stress, improving   educational outcomes in Maths and English, and helping develop empathy.

   It doesn’t matter if it is comics, novels, non-fiction, menus or instruction manuals … this is ALL reading. Reading from a screen, listening to an audiobook and being read to, all have huge benefits for children. If you read with your children, ask them if they understand what the words mean, teach them how to look up words in a dictionary and put new words into context by putting them into a sentence. All of these little things will help with understand what is being read.

   There are several places you can gain access to books, aside from visiting your own local library.

Local Library LoveReading4Kids Booktrust
  • If you are a member of your local library, BorrowBox is a free service offering e-books and AudioBooks which can be read or listened to on phones, tablets or other devices.
  • If you would like to read the first chapters of a book, sign up to the LoveReading4Kids website where many of the books have downloadable extracts.
  • If you like to read reviews, try the Booktrust website, where you can search for books by age, genre or theme.

Remember:
All pupils are members of the library and can borrow books for a period of 10 days. Please encourage your children to visit the library and borrow a book to read for pleasure.

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