Intent
At Moor Park, we are devoted to ensuring that our students have the literacy skills to be able to access our curriculum and become life-long learners. We recognise the value of reading, and our curriculum is designed to encourage and guide a structured approach to wider reading. Our aim is for every pupil to increase in their confidence and fluency in reading whilst at Moor Park. We want our pupils to have a curiosity for reading new fiction and to explore the world around them through both non-fiction and fiction.
At Moor Park, we know our pupils well, and we know about their different reading abilities. We do not want any pupil to be left behind in their reading, so we identify gaps in reading skills quickly and intervene to ensure we are working to close those gaps.
Implementation
At Key Stage 3, as part of their English lessons, pupils are read to regularly, giving teachers the opportunity to model fluency, expression and prosody. These shared readings promote discussion and highlight reading strategies in action. Teachers modelling good practice by reading themselves fosters a culture of reading. In class, pupils are introduced to the literary canon so that they can learn to appreciate the best literature that has ever been written, read and thought about and pupils are encouraged to read widely beyond the curriculum.
Click here to find out more about the KS3 curriculum.
See links below to see our wider reading list for Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9.
In addition, pupils in Year 7 and 8 and a selected group of Y9 pupils, have a weekly timetabled library lesson with our school librarian. Here they have an opportunity to read independently and to access ‘Bedrock Learning’, a personalised online vocabulary and grammar programme. They complete a second Bedrock Learning lesson for homework.
The school library supports both pupils and departments by providing not only relevant resources to support the curriculum but a challenging and supportive environment to stimulate, maintain and develop a lively and enquiring mind and an enjoyment in reading.
As regards vocabulary, in years 7 and 8, pupils are taught new Tier 2 vocabulary explicitly. Departments routinely include explicit teaching of Tier 2 vocabulary in their schemes of learning. Click here to understand the different tiers of vocabulary.
Furthermore, we also recognise the importance of disciplinary reading and students are taught how to read in an appropriate way according to that subject area.
All pupils in year 7 are assessed using the Bedrock Reading Test. The data provided ensures all teachers are aware of the reading ability of their pupils and support them accordingly. Students are then re-tested termly throughout KS3.
The data is carefully analysed and pupils with a reading age more than 2 years behind their chronological age are further assessed by our KS2 specialist interventions teacher to gain an insight into the nature of their reading difficulties.
This 1:1 diagnostic test is used to identify any decoding difficulties so that these students then work appropriately through the Lexonic Leap programme. This is a phonics catch up programme, optimised to efficiently and effectively fill gaps in knowledge. Once students graduate from this programme, they progress to completing the Abigail Steele phonics drills, designed to consolidate understanding. This is tier one of our reading intervention system; at this checkpoint, students progress to tier two.
Not all students who require reading intervention have phonics needs. For some, developing their reading ability hinges on improving their reading comprehension. This is tier two of our reading intervention system. Here, students are supported through tailored guided reading with our KS2 specialist. Through regular, purposeful, careful reading, students develop their ability to better understand texts and to better access their lessons.
Impact
The impact of the varied reading strategies is judged against a range of measures.
The ‘Bedrock learning programme generates a number of reports throughout the year to give a detailed breakdown of a cohort’s progress. Information such as the amount of time spent, the number of new words learned, a percentage improvement score and the words that are still proving difficult to learn, can be easily ascertained. This level of detail can be established about an individual pupil’s progress by drilling down into their individual progress report. The impact within a unit can be measured using pre-test and post-test scores.
The Bedrock Reading Test is taken initially at the beginning of Year 7, then repeated every term until the end of Year 8. In Year 9, selected pupils are re-tested. This gives an insight into the progress of each pupil regarding reading and spelling ages. It also allows us to identify any struggling pupils who can be supported via intervention.
In addition, GL assessments are taken at the beginning and end of Years 7, 8 and 9 to allow us identify strengths, highlight areas for improvement and track progress over time. These assessments also allow us to benchmark reading ability easily against the national average using standardised scores.
Our school library also plays an integral part in our drive to improve reading across the school. The number of ‘loans’ from the library gives a guide as to the success of promoting reading for pleasure. Our librarian provides termly reports regarding borrowing from the library. This proves the extent of wider reading within school. Loans can also be broken down by class or year group. Reports show yearly loans in comparison to other years, number of pupils who have never borrowed a book, and percentage of fiction to non-fiction borrowed. This information allows us to target individuals during library lessons who perhaps haven’t borrowed for some time.