Reading

At Whitworth Park Academy it is firmly understood by all that reading is a crucial skill that we must continue to prioritise in our curriculum. This priority helps strengthen our ethos that we support the whole child and every child to reach and surpass their potential.

Reading is the foundation that quietly powers all other skill students need to succeed. It exposes our pupils to new ideas and experiences, encourages them to develop empathy for people, characters and situations from those that may be different to their own. Our students can find excitement or inspiration in characters and plots which in turn strengthens thinking, communication and future opportunities.

Our curriculum is ambitious and supported by purposefully chosen texts that enable our pupils to engage deeply with literature, exploring its themes, characters and messages but also allowing the key messages to become part of their learning realisation. Our rich range of texts aim to:

• bring subject disciplines to life
• enhance and deepen pupils’ knowledge of the subject studied
• develop the breadth of background knowledge and cultural capital needed for full curriculum access

Literacy is the responsibility of everyone that works within our school. As a microcosm for society, it is therefore imperative that students recognise why having good literacy skills are important for day-to-day life. Opportunities to practice literacy skills are embedded in our daily school routines and in lessons. Literacy becomes even more important as the demands of the curriculum increase and students need a wider range of skills to be able to succeed at GCSE level.

Therefore, as part of our commitment to ensure all pupils are prepared fully to succeed, we take our priority to provide a ‘reading-rich’ curriculum seriously. Reading for meaning is a key part of our professional development including:

• the core components of reading, including word recognition, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension
• a focus on why reading is required to access knowledge and the importance of prior knowledge when reading
• disciplinary reading
• anticipating – and overcoming – barriers for pupils in texts
• oracy to support reading
• explicit vocabulary instruction
• strategies to develop reading fluency.

Across the curriculum, we focus on three key strands of literacy development which allow our students to be confident, competent and content members of society: reading, writing and oracy.

Reading

We promote wider reader for pleasure but also explicitly teach the art of reading and comprehension skills. Teachers uses a variety of strategies for this including but not exclusively: read aloud to students and live model the thinking process as this is completed, use reciprocal reading techniques, teach students how to use textbooks or reference books and plan opportunities for students to scan, skim or close read.

Writing

Writing is one format we use to allow students to think and explore their ideas whilst also linking ideas to form cohesive pieces. Teachers uses a variety of strategies for this including but not exclusively: model good writing and the process that sits behind that, show students how to evaluate, improve, and redraft their writing, make sure students are clear about the purpose and audience for their writing, and annotate and model sample texts as preparation for writing.

Oracy

We plan opportunities in lessons and school activities to allow talk to help strengthen ideas, debate and present ideas. We actively listen to others by following our STAR learner expectations. Teachers uses a variety of strategies for this including but not exclusively: sentence stems, listening frames, group work/roles and turn to talk.

Further, all KS3 pupils receive a fortnightly reading lesson in English, designed to enable them all to become fluent – and well informed – readers. This lesson explores a range of rich texts, with a focus on repeated reading for fluency and knowledge enhancement.

We are committed to celebrating and promoting a love for reading among our pupils. We plan and seize any opportunity to promote reading, whether that be ‘World Book Day’, monthly reading challenges, reading ambassador planned events, tutor group reads, library quizzes, reading club, book fairs or even sharing our teacher’s own current reads. By immersing our pupils in the world of books we will enhance their academic performance, broaden their horizons, develop into well-rounded, confident young people and become lifelong lovers of reading.

Tutor Time Reading

After reading recent findings from the National Literacy Trust children’s mental health and Wellbeing, along with the research that underpinned these findings, it became clear that using reading to support children’s mental health needed to be integral to our literacy strategy.

Our students at Whitworth Park Academy understand the importance of reading. Reading plays a huge part in all aspects of our school life. Our tutor time reading gives us the opportunity to explore texts that deepen our understanding of the world we live in and help us to live our school values of kindness, diligence and respect. By exploring through discussion, we can add context that boosts student knowledge and understanding.

Our texts are rich in variety and have been purposefully selected to complement our exciting curriculum. We see reading as an opportunity to explore ourselves as people, explore our global citizenship, and explore what we should learn from the past.

Please find below an overview of what reading journeys our students will be embarking upon.

Interventions & Support for Struggling Readers

We understand that some pupils may arrive at Whitworth Park Academy with a reading age below what is expected. This is quickly identified in term 1 and acted upon as we know the profound impact this can have on a pupil’s ability to comprehend and engage in all subjects and school. Our various interventions are led by specialists in this field who use the latest research to ensure students receive the most impactful sessions for their need. In our school we use the following process to enable us to provide bespoke support:

• Pupils are assessed using NGRT standardised reading assessments. This data provides a starting point for analysis to identify the lowest quintile of the cohort.
• Pupils identified undertake a range of one-to-one diagnostic reading assessments. Some are led by our SEND department or dedicated intervention teachers. All diagnostic assessments are efficient and designed to pinpoint the specific aspects of reading that each pupil finds challenging across four key areas: phonics, vocabulary, reading fluency, and comprehension. Purposeful assessment and precision underpin everything we do. 
• Our SEND department coordinates more in-depth diagnostic assessment, such as detailed phonics assessment or suspected speech and language issues, for pupils who might need it.
• Once pupils’ reading issues have been identified, we match pupils to the interventions needed. Reading interventions take place at various times in the school day/after school depending on the reading need. All interventions are quality assured to ensure they are led with fidelity. 
• Interventions are monitored and progress recorded using GL standardised tests and other appropriate measures, such as accurate words per minute counts or fluency rubric scorings and other standardised reading and spelling test.