At Serlby Park Academy, we place reading at the front and centre of our curriculum. We want our pupils to be able to access the full curriculum offer by developing a reading programme that focuses on accuracy, automaticity (speed, fluency), prosody (expression, emphasis and tone) and a love of reading.

The English secondary reading strategy is delivered via English lessons, where all pupils are given access to a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. Pupils read and reread texts to find layers of meaning and increase understanding. Each text also focuses on a key theme to encourage our pupils’ personal development.

All pupils in Years 7 and 8 are assessed using GL Assessment’s reading test https://www.gl-assessment.co.uk/products/new-group-reading-test-ngrt .The assessment helps highlight which pupils require support with their reading. This support is provided in different ways depending on the need of each pupil. This could include reading support in the library, phonics lessons and sound training intervention. Some pupils also receive an extra timetabled English lesson, focusing on key literacy skills and comprehension.

In addition, all pupils in Years 7 and 8 access the Accelerated Reader programme https://www.renaissance.com/products/accelerated-reader.  Accelerated Reader is a programme designed to encourage a love of reading, using reading levels to suggest appropriate books for each pupil and testing for comprehension along the way. Pupils visit the library for 1 hour per week, as well as reading at the beginning of every English lesson.

Oracy is a key focus across the Academy and we aim to develop pupils’ speaking and listening skills, confidence, and ability to express ideas.  Oracy tasks are embedded across tutor time activities and curriculum areas. Pupils are provided with sentence starters to scaffold their responses across the curriculum, and often word walls offer key subject vocabulary that our students can use to articulate their ideas. 

We promote literacy across the school. Each week, pupils across KS3 listen and read along to an extract from a novel. Pupils are then given the opportunity to discuss what they have read. This reading is designed to expose students to texts with diverse characters and themes.

Word of the Week introduces students to a range of new vocabulary that can be used across all subjects. Vocabulary is tied to the local context so that it is meaningful and builds cultural capital.