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The Research Library and Sixth Form Library Provision

Study Space

The Research Library is a silent study space for sixth form students, to use during their study periods and social times. Years 10 and 11 may also use this space for homework and reading during social times. 

Resources

The Research Library houses the books supporting A level and GCSE studies, as well as our senior contemporary fiction and literary nonfiction collections. We have wider reading lists for all A level subjects. The RL also houses our outstanding ‘Swan Poetry’ collection.

The main library houses classics (published before 1930), literature in translation and ancient classics, as well as our 1930-1980 fiction collection, and our fiction/nonfiction for younger readers.

The library’s collection of fiction in French is shelved in the French classrooms.

We subscribe to a range of digital resources that support sixth form studies: JSTOR for academic journal articles; Massolit for short lectures by academics, and the sixth form Review magazines published by Hodder. These are all available through our Library system, Accessit (at home as well as school, and wherever students are online). The Swan School has free digital access to The Financial Times

We also subscribe to The Economist, and to the art magazines Black and White Photography and Artists and Illustrators.

Research Skills

Year 12s take a course in study skills for EPQ and A level coursework using resources created by the Education Department at the Bodleian Library.

All sixth formers working on EPQ or EE are offered  1:1 or small group research training sessions with Dr Roynon. She assists them in discovering and evaluating the best possible scholarly sources, via JSTOR, Google Scholar etc, for their research. Dr Roynon is a widely-published academic and tutor in literary studies, and has an MA in Library and Information Studies from UCL. She has years of experience in teaching research skills to young people. 

The Library is able to buy one specific book to support each student’s individual sixth form research project, as required. 

Wider Reading

Sixth form tutors lead the supported reading programme, which requires students to read an extra-curricular book from our Library and to post a review of it on our Library website, every term.

Leadership Opportunities

Sixth form students volunteer as Senior Student Librarians during a breaktime, issuing books from the Library desk.

They also volunteer in the Year 12-Year 7 paired reading scheme, giving their time to read 1:1 with Year 7 students who are improving readers. This takes place before school every Wednesday.