Sixth Form Book Club

Schools from across Manchester, including The Manchester Grammar School, come together in partnership to foster independent reading and discussion of important literary texts, helping students gain confidence and broadening their knowledge of English literature.

Aims

The aim of the partnership is to foster independent reading and discussion of important literary texts, including novels and short story collections from a range of genres and authors, both historical and more contemporary. This helps students gain confidence in speaking in tutorial-style contexts, in listening to and responding to the ideas of others and in broadening the range of literary texts which students have access to, especially for aspiring English undergraduates.

Background

The partnership began in 2008 between The Manchester Grammar School, Withington Girls' School, Manchester High School for Girls and selected schools in Trafford. The partnership has recently included our local Sixth Form Colleges Xaverian and Loreto.

It involves an open discussion of the content, themes and stylistic features of the literary work selected. There is a little teacher input at times, but most of the discussion is generated by students and discussion is often introduced and facilitated by students.

Resources

The venue rotates between the educational establishments throughout the academic year. Typically, one English teacher from each of the partners attends the meeting to assist with facilitating.

Pupil Involvement

Numbers vary from meeting to meeting, but the average number of pupils involved is 20 to 25. For very popular texts, numbers can be as high as 40.

The group is open to any sixth form students, irrespective of whether they study an English course in the Sixth Form. The group is comprised of a mixture of English students and those from other disciplines with an interest in literature.

Frequency

Every half term, for 90 minutes after School, between 4.30-6pm.