Literacy at St Paul’s

Intent Statement

We believe that reading is integral to pupils’ understanding and appreciation of the world around them; it is a platform that allows our children to see beyond what they know, share in cultural experiences, and develop the vocabulary they need to effectively express themselves.

Research shows that pupils’ literacy and reading skills have a major impact on their futures, and we recognise the importance of children engaging with reading and read regularly; when reading opportunities increase, so does fluency and stamina, which in turn often increases their enjoyment of reading. Therefore, the link between pupils’ motivation to read and reading for pleasure is reciprocal.

Implementation

We aim to increase the reading ages of our pupils so that the gap between their chronological age and their reading age diminishes. Our aim is based on three aspects of the Reading Strategy and impact is monitored through calendared testing windows over the course of the academic year, using Accelerated Reader:

1. Intervention

2. Reading for Pleasure

3. Academic Reading and Vocabulary

We intervene systematically with our weaker readers by organising and providing a diverse programme of intervention.

Our current Intervention programmes are:

· Lexia Power Up

· BW3 (Reading Mentors from our local community)

· IXL Software Package

· Fresh Start (Phonics)

· Lexonik Software Package

· Internal Mentoring

· Bespoke Form Groups

Reading for pleasure ensures that every student is encouraged to read in order to develop a love of reading. We believe that reading, and particularly reading for pleasure, has a direct impact on cognitive and social communicative development. It has been shown to improve health and wellbeing, as well as improving compassion and empathy for others. Our aim is to develop each student’s potential to the point where they are reading at, or above, their chronological age.

We have numerous opportunities to support with promoting a love for reading:

· Bronze, Silver, Gold Reading Challenge

· Competitions such as: ‘The Masked Reader’

· Subject specific reading lists

· Reading time each week during Form Time (Class Reads)

· Timetable of LRC opening hours

· Free use of the School’s LRC with books available to take home and read

Academic Reading and Vocabulary

We are committed to empowering students by widening their vocabulary. We understand the impact that vocabulary has on quality of work, progress, and the ability to express ideas and concepts. We have composed subject specific reading lists as well as identifying subject specific vocabulary that explicitly taught in lessons. As well as this, we have developed a marking code used across all subjects to allow formative and summative assessment marking for Literacy.

At Key Stage 4, we have a designated form period each week centred on Literacy. Pupils are expected to read and talk about a wide variety of written texts and complete comprehension style tasks and retrieval activities to strengthen key literacy-based skills such as: inference, deduction, analysis and evaluation.

Impact

The impact of the Literacy and Reading Strategy is monitored in various ways:

· Calendared Quality Assurance cycle

· Reading age data analysis – four times per year

· Pupil Voice each week

· Feedback from external providers

· Staff feedback

· Parental liaison and communication

Literacy Links

Summer Reading Bingo

Research shows that reading for pleasure has a significant impact on attainment across the curriculum, and reading during the summer will help to prevent what is known as the ‘summer slide’. Reading is also brilliant for boosting confidence, for developing empathy and for escaping into fictional worlds.

The Summer Reading Bingo challenge is one of the many initiatives we offer to students. The goal is to read as many books as possible that fit into different categories. Each book can only be counted towards one category, even if it might fit into several categories. Students need to write a brief review of each book they read (on paper or typed); they also need to write their name, form group, and the category the book fits into. They will then give their book reviews to their form tutor in September and will receive an Achievement Point and a raffle ticket for each book they have read. We will draw raffle tickets in late September, and these students will participate in a ‘lucky dip’ prize event.

Students will receive a paper copy of the Summer Reading Bingo challenge, but it will also be sent to all students via their school email.

Audio books count for the challenge. It would be wonderful to listen to a book as a family if you are travelling during the summer.

Thank you in advance for your support of our Summer Reading Bingo challenge.

Library Ambassadors

The Library Ambassadors at Saint Paul’s are students who help in the library at break and lunch times. They work with the librarian, Mrs Savova, to help the library run smoothly and efficiently and provide an opportunity for students to be active in decision making about what the library offers.

Organising students to help with the library not only ensures the smooth day-to-day running of the library, but also helps develop a sense of responsibility, achievement and self-esteem in the children.

The role of the Library Ambassadors provides leadership opportunities within the school, it encourages ownership of the library by students, improves the library environment following student input and provides the opportunity to learn new skills, including research and ICT skills.

The Library Team

The Library Team work together to help the library run smoothly and efficiently with some wonderful books to select to read in or out of school.