READING AT LONGSPEE ACADEMY SECONDARY
At Longspee Academy we support young people to become independent, successful and confident adults, and believe being able to read increases your ability to achieve this. We recognise the vast range of interests, abilities and attitudes of our pupils towards reading and our reading ethos across the school reflects that.
Baseline assessments
We use NGRT (New Group Reading Test)* as a baseline assessment to help us find out what level each learner in the Autumn term. This gives us standardised scores in Reading, Spelling and Comprehension and helps us identify which pupils may need further support. Each pupil is then retested in the summer term which helps us inform their progress. *The school will be using WRAT5 for baselining from Jan ’24
Phonics- ‘Catch Up’ reading scheme in line with the twinkl phonics scheme
We have a series of ‘catch-up’ readers which are suitable for secondary school learners who require phonics input and support. These books follow the twinkl programme and come with engaging activities.
Reading Plus
At Longspee Academy we also use the program Reading Plus for those pupils who need extra support with reading and are able to access it at least three times a week. This program encourages progress towards reading at their chronological age by developing fluency, comprehension, and word vocabulary. It can also be accessed at home via a computer or tablet.
Reading Intervention
The timetable allows for individual reading interventions to close the GAP for those working at the Phonics and Reading plus level and who need that little extra focused support.
Reading In Class
Reading in class aims to develop readers skills and to instil a passion for words, books, and stories in a safe environment. It aims to make progress through improving the pupil’s fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. At KS3, to encourage students to feel happy about reading, each class at Longspee Academy has a daily opportunity for at least 15 minutes of independent reading for interest. Classes also have class readers that are read regularly as appropriate to each class’ needs.
At KS4 classes are given regular opportunities to develop their functional reading skills through a range of text and media.
The students have access to a school library, and a closely located public library.