Our daily routines and educational practice are rooted in the twin values of Dignity and Respect.
Phone: 01296 651382Email: office@waddesdonschool.com
The library is open to all students throughout the school day for study and for socialising outside of lessons; it provides students with an open, calm space for independent research, quiet reflection, small group activities and immersion in reading for pleasure. All students can borrow books, DVDs and are welcome to come and read the library magazines. We aim to tailor library clubs and activities to interests that the students have and are keen to explore. We currently run a combination of lunchtime and after school clubs (see Extra-Curricular Activities section) including Calm Wednesdays (where pupils are encouraged to engage with some quiet mindful activities), and a very popular Chess Club on Thursday lunchtimes.
If there is a book you would love to read but you cannot find it on the shelves or if you have read a book you would like to recommend to your peers that we do not already have, please speak to Mrs Staiano!
Don’t forget, you can follow Waddesdon Community Library on X (Formerly Twitter)
The Library provides a safe space
where reading and literacy are promoted,
differences are celebrated,
and everyone is welcome.
The London Library
We have been lucky to have our subsidized The London Library subscription extended for a further year, until September 2027. It is an academic virtual and ‘brick’ library with access to hundreads of thousands of resources including JSTOR. Brilliant for Arts and Humanities A Level and EPQ students. Please contact Mrs Staiano
lstaiano@waddesdonschool.com for more information.
Join Your Local Library Service
We encourage students to join Buckinghamshire or Oxfordshire Library Service to access further free resources, including free eAudiobooks:
Carnegie Shadowing Group 2026
Pupils in Year 8 were selected to take part in the Carnegie Shadowing Scheme again this year and we had a great sized group who really engaged with the award. It is a fantastic opportunity to shadow the Carnegie judges in reading, discussing, and reviewing books on the shortlist for the prestigious Carnegie Medal. The group met fortnightly (Thursday after school with Mrs Staiano and Miss Ogden to discuss the shortlisted books/activities). The group voted ‘The Boy I love’ by William Hussey as their Shadowers’ winner. ‘Wolf Siren’ by Beth O’Brien was another favourite of the group (voted in third place) and that won the judges 2026 Carnegie medal. Pupils were also presented with certificates (and sweet cones) for taking part. Please see the summer Waddesdon Voice for student write up on p12 here.
Author Visit
Matt Oldfield (author of Ultimate Football Heroes series plus others) came to visit Waddesdon on 13th July which also happened to coincide with the Football World Cup and with England still being in the competition! He came and gave some very engaging talks to Year 7 and Year 8 about his writing career, the many books he has had published, and how important reading for pleasure is! He also gave two writing workshops with a group of Year 7 and Year 8 students to help them develop their writing and think about setbacks they may have had to overcome. A write up of the day can be found in the Summer issue of The Waddesdon Voice, P18 here.
‘If you’re into it, read into it!’
We celebrated World Book Day this year (2026) on Thursday 5th March with a focus on the National Year of Reading.
Mrs Staiano (Librarian) started the day by giving a World Book Day ‘Go All In’ National Year of Reading inspired assembly with some of the Year 12’s (Christina, Risha and Manal) then running a Lyrics or Literature Quiz between Ms D’Souza and a year 7 (head to head!) which provided great excitement!
In the sunny courtyard at lunchtime Mrs Staiano and some Year 12 volunteers ran some book inspired games: Guess the book title from the emojis, book quiz as well as the very popular ‘Guess the book in the jar’. Congratulations to Adam (Yr 7) for winning the ‘Guess the book in the jar’ (‘The Hobbit’!) and Riley (Yr 7) with the highest score in the ‘Book quiz’ scoring 17/20. Well done!
In the afternoon, Mrs Staiano took a group of Year 12 students over to visit the pre-school to see the little ones dressed in their favourite book characters and read with them. A write up of the day can be found in the Spring issue of The Waddesdon Voice, P12/13, here
Thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a success, by participating in the assembly quiz, taking part in the WBD activities or reading to the pre-school children. Remember, ‘If you’re into it, read into it! ‘Go all in!’
