The Importance of Reading
Studies show that reading for pleasure makes a big difference to children’s educational performance. Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures.
All Key Stage Three students have a fortnightly reading fluency lesson taught by the English Faculty. These lessons allow pupils to develop their ability to read fluently, accurately and with expression. Pupils journey through texts that provide them with cultural capital and knowledge to support their learning. They also have opportunities to read chorally and to develop a rich tapestry of Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary.
Our library also provides pupils with high quality reading texts to improve reading comprehension and foster a love of reading. We have a huge variety of books which cover a host of different interests and topics. Students are supported to develop their reading habits via their tutor and English teacher.
Reading for Progress
At Biddick Academy we use a common language to develop strategic readers called ‘Reading High 5’, a reciprocal reading strategy that develops student reading comprehension whilst exposing students to rich high-quality texts to promote progress. We have developed this strategy using the EEF’s Literacy Guidance Report and it includes opportunities for students to activate prior knowledge, make predictions and develop questions to develop comprehension. We provide academic reading across the curriculum both within class and through homework so that students read for depth and breadth to develop hinterland knowledge.
We model the High 5 approach across the academy so that students master the skills to read strategically. We also provide scaffolding of each part of the Reading High 5 so that students learn how to use it as a metacognitive strategy for reading to learn independently with confidence.
Across the curriculum students read a range of non-fiction, fiction, and authentic real-world texts. We provide challenge for students ensuring texts are rich grammatically and in terms of Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary.
Our focus on reading enables us to build curious learners who seek to read beyond the core curriculum.
Tutor Time Reading Programme
Students in Years 7,8 and 9 read collaboratively as a Form class each week during registration. This is a mixture of teacher-led whole class reading as well as ‘round robin’ class reading. This enables tutor groups to engage in the experiences of characters inviting them to have conversations about issues and experiences as part of their personal development. The sessions promote teachers modelling expert reading whilst also developing reading fluency. The programme of books enable support students’ social, moral, spiritual and moral (SMSC) development. The texts have also been selected to celebrate difference and invite students to delve into the lives of characters with Protected Characteristics, including those with different disabilities, races, religions and gender identities.
Talk to Write
At Biddick Academy we want students to be curious and aspirational and we recognise the importance of being able to express oneself fluently and confidently. Most of us will need to be able to do this in our everyday lives. To develop this in our students, we have implemented a range of ‘talk’ or ‘oracy’ strategies that teachers use across the curriculum in their lessons.
We also know that high quality talk leads to high quality writing and so we have used this as a tool to further support the development of students’ writing.
One of our key oracy strategies includes challenging students to extend their answers by asking them to ‘say it again like an expert’. In this way we can promote the importance of high quality talk from students and support them to talk using language that is rich in subject specific vocabulary.
In lessons we may also ask them to ‘talk like a scientist’ for example, or ‘speak like a critic’ so that they can practise their speaking skills and then transfer this to their writing.