Reading
Our Whole School Reading Strategy
Here at Saltley Academy, we are firmly committed to developing our students reading skills both at school and at home. Some of the key planks of our reading strategy include;
At school;
- LRC - Our LRC is opened for our students to read during the school day. Our LRC is open during both lunch breaks and after school (as part of our homework club), in order to allow students to read for pleasure.
- Teacher Read Posters - Our staff promote the importance of reading to the students through displaying their Teacher Read Posters on their classroom doors or on their offices, where appropriate. Every member of staff has completed the Teacher Read template, by answering three basic questions on the latest book that they are reading, along with an image.
- Accelerated Reader programme - Our Year 7 and 8 students participate in the Accelerated Reader programme with STAR TESTING, in their English lessons. Students in Year 7 and 8 have Accelerated Reader lessons once a fortnight during English Curriculum time. Students then complete STAR TESTING once a half term. Interventions are then carried out afterwards to enable all students to catch up. Reports are then generated for each class and shared with English Department teachers. Letters go home to parents/carers with regards to how their child has performed in the STAR TESTING for that half term.
- Literacy Form Time Sessions - Literacy Form Time Sessions take place once a week during morning registration. Each literacy session has reading extracts/reading activities incorporated into the literacy sessions and based on the literacy focused days themes, as set out on the Literacy Across the Curriculum Learning Journey for KS3 and KS4.
At home;
- Homework - Subject specific and relevant reading and comprehension homework tasks incorporated into the Year 7-11 Homework planners, where appropriate.
- Online Library - We have our own Saltley Academy Online Library, which enables students to access both eBooks and Audio Books and read/listen to them at home.
- Reading Lists - There are age appropriate School Reading Lists, which provide guidance on the age appropriate books that parents can purchase their children to read.
Our Whole School Reading Strategy for students that require urgent intervention with reading
The Inclusion Department ensures that those students that need urgent intervention with reading are given the intervention that they need, up to three times a week in the Hive.
All the approaches being adopted by the Inclusion Department to support those students that require urgent intervention with reading, is based on the latest academic research done by the Education Endowment Foundation EEF on areas including phonic awarness, decoding and much more.
The Inclusion Department uses the following phonic programmes listed below with students that require urgent intervention with reading and in particular with phonics. This is done with students in 1:1 intervention sessions;
- Word Wasp
- Toe by Toe
- Direct phonics
The Inclusion Department also uses Comprehension Cards/Rapid reading activities for those students who have low level reading skills. They read both fiction and non fiction reading texts. It is based on their reading levels and to show reading progression, so they can access the intervention being offered.
The Inclusion Department also offers the following speech and language intervention programmes listed below with students that require urgent intervention with reading and in particular speech and language;
- Vocab programme
- Word Aware programme
Our Inclusion Department has used the Word Aware programme as part of the Developing Local Provision Project, which was then shared across the WHMAT and later across other Birmingham schools. This programme is particularly based on the EEF Reading Comprehension strategies document.
The Inclusion Department also uses the Lexia programme for those students that require urgent intervention with their reading. It is a piece of software that sets students work at appropriate reading levels. It levels the work for them and sets it at their appropriate level - e.g. reading a passage. It then marks it for them and then sets work that is more challenging, if they make progress or provides them with additional scaffolded work, to support them to move them to the next level, if they are not making the progress expected. If a student is struggling with the work, it will automatically send an alert to the key worker from the Inclusion Department attached to the child, to intervene further, to enable them to make more progress.
Online Library
Click here to access Saltley Academy's Online Library -
Year 7-11 Reading Lists from the School Reading List:
Year 7-11 Reading Lists from the School Reading List
- Recommended reading list for Year 7
- https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks3-pupils/suggested-reading-list-for-year-7-pupils-ks2-age-11-12/
- Recommended reading list for Year 8
- https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks3-pupils/suggested-reading-list-for-year-8-pupils-ks3-age-12-13/
- Recommended reading list for Year 9
- https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks3-pupils/suggested-reading-list-for-year-9-pupils-ks3-age-13-14/
- Recommended reading list for Year 10
- https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks4-school-pupils/suggested-reading-list-year-10-pupils-ks4-age-14-15/
- Recommended reading list for Year 11
- https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks4-school-pupils/suggested-reading-list-year-11-pupils-ks4-age-15-16/
