Encouraging a lifelong love of reading is something we are passionate about. Every day, our entire school stops everything so that we can read!

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We work with the National Literacy Trust to be a key player in their Swindon Literacy Hub. The NLT will help shape and drive our literacy provision and guide our work in this area.

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All students in KS3 and KS4 will read for 20 minutes each day in school. This is facilitated by Accelerated Reader, which directs students towards a range of suitably challenging books and provides incentives for regular reading. We also use Bedrock Vocabulary,  an online programme which is proven to expose pupils to challenging vocabulary and makes them think deeply about what words mean.

The Bedrock Vocabulary assessments allow us to track progress and regularly provides us with invaluable feedback on each student, helping us to ensure not only that they read, but that they understand. 

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We also ensure literacy skills are promoted across GWA, ensuring key grammar and punctuation skills receive consistent attention in all subjects, so that students realise that reading and writing skills are fundamental to their progress. Regular whole school events, such as author visits, book clubs, reading and spelling competitions are also organised. 

 

Progress in reading and communication is measured by regular reading and spelling age assessments.

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A proportion of students require further support with their literacy in order to close the gap between their reading and chronological age. A range of strategies are in place to help this happen, personalised to individual students. These include: 

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• reading out loud to adults or sixth form reading bussies during the daily reading time 

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• cross-curricular support materials and strategies for all teachers to use consistently to support reading, writing and communication 

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• the of use of one additional lesson each week to support literacy skills, for a targeted cohort of learners​

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• where necessary for key students, drawing up an individual reading support plan which details one-to-one support and how it may be provided 

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• working with parents to encourage further reading to take place at home