Literacy

Reading and the Curriculum

• Reading is a thinking process which allows a reader to build prior knowledge and develop new strategies to organise ideas and use textual clues to find the new meanings of words.
• We are fully committed to embedding literacy across the curriculum and ensuring that all students have the opportunity to read out loud. We recognise the importance of both general and specific literacy skills and emphasising the importance of supporting teachers in every subject to incorporate focused reading opportunities.
• SPARX reader supports with the understanding of TIER 2 vocabulary which encourages students to listen to the pronunciation of words whilst being introduced to a range of new definitions.
• English mastery writing lessons at both key stage 3 and 4 encourage the use of grammar and vocabulary instruction. DO NOW tasks encourage retrieval before moving onto the next instruction.
• We have made it a priority to increase the time that students are exposed to reading in terms of frequency and depth.

Reading Interventions

Whole School

There are three test points for all students throughout the academic year using Renaissance Star Reader. This is an on-line assessment of your child’s reading growth, showing the skills they have mastered which are aligned to the National Curriculum. Star Reader generates a reading diagnostic and instructional coaching report to identify the skills each student needs to focus on to meet or exceed expected standards. Star reading is a computer adaptive test meaning that is adapts to suit each student’s ability, catering for everyone from SEN to high attainers.

Reading Strategies

Tier 1:

Teachers are aware of students' reading ages and actively encourage reading for pleasure and vocabulary instruction. Teachers support student progress by using a range of strategies such as: asking questions about a topic, activating prior knowledge, scanning a text, devising a mental model, reading related texts etc.

Recent introduction of SPARX reader enables students to choose a book matched to the reading age of the user which regularly checks understanding of the text throughout. Teachers know exactly who is reading and can focus on those that need intervention and support. They can set personalised reading tasks to complete in class or at home. Real-time insights show exactly who is reading and teachers can identify class and student progress. Students read more carefully as they are tested at regular intervals with short comprehension tasks.

Introduction of OSCAR – Our School Cares About Reading. This encourages focused reading time in all subjects to enjoy reading as part of their everyday diet. Departments share an interesting read with the students to create enthusiasm around a particular topic or current issue linked to their subject area and ask the students to read out loud at various points in the lesson.

Tier 2:

Fluency is the bridge from decoding to comprehension as it allows the reader to focus on the wider meaning of the text rather than the mechanics of reading. A large proportion of students with comprehension difficulties struggle with fluency. It is vitally important that these students read regularly with an adult with increasingly difficult texts.

Tier 3:

Any student who is flagged up as requiring intervention on the Star Reader Test is then screened using the Fresh Start Benchmark Test. This indicates whether a student is at the early stages of reading and whether they require phonics intervention. Read Write Inc. Fresh Start intervention is a systematic, synthetic phonics programme to accelerate progress for struggling readers at secondary school. Students are taught at their challenge point, so they learn to read accurately and fluently in just 25 minutes per day. Fresh Start is for students who:

• are not yet reading age appropriately,
• have missed schooling,
• are new to the UK education system,
• are learning English as an additional language.

Decodable, age-appropriate stories, and non-fiction texts

In each session, students learn new letter sounds and words whilst regularly repeating previous sounds and words. They apply what they have been taught by reading words containing the sounds they know in age-appropriate short stories and non – fiction texts closely matched to their phonic knowledge.

Time required for teaching Fresh Start

Students are taught individually or in a small progress group for 25 minutes per session. The duration depends on each student’s starting point; some may only need a few sessions whilst others may need two or three terms. Individual progress is tracked to monitor skills mastered.

Those with significant cognitive delay are taught using Read Write Inc, Phonics and work below module 14. This enables the reading tutor to go right back to an early stage of reading focusing on decoding and blending of words.

There are endless amounts of research that show that the active involvement with an adult can make a significant difference to a child’s learning journey. Quite often, parents and carers are not too sure what to do and how their influence can benefit their child. Here you can access key information on ‘reading together’ and ‘top tips’ on how to support reading for pleasure in the home.

Resources

Go Straight to

Developed by Ruth Miskin, Fresh Start follows the same sound progression as the DFE validated SSP RWI Phonics and is the KS2 element of the renowned phonics programme. High quality training provided by Ruth Miskin Training supports teachers, teaching assistants or tutors to deliver Fresh Start in a primary school setting.

Key Stage 3 & 4 engage in a reading lesson once a fortnight in The Orme Academy library. They each have a SPARX log in account which can be accessed at school or from home. Students firstly take an on-line comprehension test to generate a list of possible reads to choose from. As students engage in their chosen book, they are expected to complete short comprehension task at various intervals about what they have read. The focus is on accuracy and understanding rather than just the mechanics of reading. Alongside this, as a part of English Mastery at KS3, students also enjoy a whole class text.

Students are awarded with SRP (Sparx Reading Points) which looks at how many words they have read alongside accuracy. Teacher live-monitor progress and support the students in real time.

Homework is set on SPARX which sets personalised targets for each student to complete a set amount of reading each week.

Students can be awarded a ‘Gold Reader’ card which gives them the option to transfer to a hard copy of a particular book of their choice.

Students who read frequently are given both OSCAR points on Talaxy and/or SRP to celebrate their reading progress. This also generates a praise letter home informing the parent/carer that they have consistently being active in reading out loud in several subject areas.

ACE readers are those that volunteer to read out loud in their lessons. This can be a piece of extended text or as little as reading the engagement task to the rest of the class. Reading aloud helps students to develop literacy skills as well as building confidence.

Benefits of reading out loud:

• Development of vocabulary.
• Improvement in comprehension and active listening.
• Reduces stress and improves well-being.
• Strengthens fluency and accuracy of reading.

WHY?

To promote a whole school love of reading.  

To encourage us all to be 'teachers of reading.’ 

To enable departments to include extended reading tasks in their subject area.

To continue to encourage students to read out loud in all lessons. 

Subject specific extended reading time planned by the department.

All departments have a window of opportunity to showcase in lessons.

ACE readers

Students are recognised for reading out loud in their lessons and are awarded OSCAR points on TALAXY.

Prizes include - Chocolate goody bags, reading books, Amazon vouchers, stationary and much more to celebrate student engagement.

Students who show commitment to reading out loud across several lessons also receive a praise letter home to inform parents & carers of their achievement.

Form Time Literacy

BookBuzz – Year 7 & 8

Bookbuzz is a reading programme from BookTrust that aims to help schools inspire a love of reading.

When students arrive in year 7, they are given the opportunity to choose their own book from a list of 16 titles during their library induction session. This is read in form time and taken home to continue reading. Books are carefully selected by a panel of experts to ensure quality, suitability and to encourage reading for pleasure.

On a weekly basis, form time literacy tasks are delivered to each year group to improve vocabulary instruction and reading fluency. The focus is on retrieval of language and skimming the text for relevant information. Form tutors check for understanding and use the current topic as a basis for meaningful discussions.

Reading Events

Students are given whole school literacy opportunities to further explore their love for reading. From reading marathons to ‘buddy up’ time in form time, students are encouraged to read for pleasure at every opportunity.

Some of our ACE readers were set a challenge to complete as many ‘short reads’ in a day.

Every hour, they were based at different reading stations around the school to promote their favourite books to other students in their year group. A fantastic achievement!

World Book Day

Departments across the school deliver both fun and educational activities for World Book Day. From making bookmarks in ICT promoting their favourite reads to exploring how to write a six-story competition in English.

Reading Together

Parents & Carers are invited to come into school to read with their child.

This is a valuable opportunity to hear your child read in a quiet environment without any day-to-day distractions. Students can choose an age-related text from the library to take home to continue reading together with a family member.

The transition from primary school to a secondary setting is a significant milestone in every student’s educational journey. There is a lot to focus on and a huge focus on academic performance. For some students this is naturally the next step, but for others this can be extremely overwhelming. What happens to the focus on reading at this point?

During early Key Stages of 1 and 2, students learn to decode and read phonetically but after this stage when the child can read independently, parental input decreases. The tradition of reading at bedtime can come to a standstill and enthusiasm for reading out loud can deteriorate.

It is during Key Stage 3, with access to a library and a range of reading resources that students once again can learn to love reading. When established in their daily routines, young people become readers of their own accord. Research shows that the enjoyment for reading decreases when children start secondary school. However, we know that being able to read fluently is the most important indicator of educational success in every child. Every leader in school is a leader of reading. It is our job to spark enthusiasm around reading and to promote all the benefits it brings.

Year 5 & 6 Transition

At the start of the academic year, we host library events for our primary partner schools to take part in. This involves workshops led by external visitors and a range of book related tasks delivered by teaching staff at The Orme Academy.

During the workshops, students work in teams to find out information in a collection of popular reads. They are expected to retrieve information at a fast pace and show their understanding of the vocabulary used. Primary aged children are whizzes at reading and enjoy the challenge tasks they are set.

During the workshops, professional poets delve into an imaginative world of make believe and demonstrate the art of storytelling in poems. Students of course, are given the opportunity to write their own original material and turn it into a poetry performance for all to enjoy. Teachers of course get involved too!

Enrichment

Every Thursday, students from a local primary school take part in a drama led workshop with a focus on storytelling. The session looks at vocabulary choices and how this engages an audience during a performance.

Short extracts are explored each week, and the students bring these to life with their own interpretation of language. Students have explored the character of Matilda who uses books as a way of escaping her unpleasant childhood as well as song lyrics from the movie ‘Sing’ for our annual Songbook Christmas celebration. The workshops encourage students to ‘play around’ with words and explore the meanings on a deeper level.