At St Benet Biscop, we are passionate about developing students as competent, fluent and engaged readers.

 

There are 3 aspects to our reading curriculum that are interconnected:

•    Supporting the weakest readers
•    Reading in the curriculum
•    Reading for pleasure
 

Programme for the Weakest Readers

•    All students complete a reading assessment on entry to the school, and then regularly throughout Year 7-9. Students who are highlighted as potential weaker readers are identified.
•    Additional screening of these students takes place to identify the level of additional support that might be needed.
•    For students requiring it, we have specially trained staff in the teaching of phonics. Students follow the Fresh Start programme in bespoke and one-to-one or small group teaching sessions.
•    We also support weaker readers with decoding, vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension, by using the Lexia programme.
•    To support some students with their reading, we also offer a Sixth Form reading mentor. Students meet with a Sixth Form student regularly to read aloud, develop their reading fluency and to develop their vocabulary and comprehension. 
 

Reading in the Curriculum
•    All teachers understand that they have a commitment to developing our students as readers. Whether the subject be English, RE, Art or Maths, all disciplines support and develop students’ disciplinary reading. 
•    Teachers ensure that students are exposed to texts that are appropriate to the subject, and offer appropriate challenge. The texts are chosen carefully, and feature in our teachers’ planning.
•    The St Benet Biscop Lesson highlights how lessons will regularly include active reading to support with vocabulary acquisition and decoding, reading comprehension and reading fluency. 

Vocabulary acquisition and decoding
•    Teachers plan the vocabulary that students will be taught in the curriculum. They plan to develop students’ knowledge of high frequency vocabulary as well as specialist subject terminology. 
•    Teachers will regularly support students with vocabulary acquisition by pre-teaching vocabulary before it is encountered in a text. This is to ensure students are not overloaded with knowledge when they are reading. Teachers will often teach the definition, etymology and pronunciation of words.

Reading comprehension
•    Teachers support students with their reading comprehension in a number of different ways. For example through questioning, establishing the gist of a text before reading, making connections with prior taught knowledge, through guided reading activities, annotating and so on. 

Reading fluency
•    Students are regularly encouraged to read aloud in lessons, to develop their ability to read fluently. To support students with their reading fluency, they are often pre-taught vocabulary, to ensure accurate reading, as well as pace and prosody. Teachers model effective reading fluency, and students experience reading aloud in a variety of different ways in lessons. 

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Reading for Pleasure
We really want to ensure our students see the pleasure, and value in reading.

In order to promote reading for pleasure, we:
•    Dedicate some registration time to private reading.
•    Dedicate identified registration periods for reading a class novel as a form class, with form tutors.
•    Enjoy regular reading lessons within the English curriculum time.
•    Welcome authors into school to talk to students about their works and the value of literature. 
•    Mark World Book Day and National Poetry Day with events in school.
•    Offer students extra-curricular opportunities to read at our various book clubs.
•    Publicise suggest wider reading material

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