Clare Mount Specialist Sports College Role Models and Catalysts for Change
Literacy & Reading
Intent
At Clare Mount Specialist Sports College all teachers are teachers of literacy. We believe that all students are entitled to learn to read and write to be able to access not just the curriculum, but all aspects of life. Strong literacy skills enable young people to thrive in school and in society. Literacy is the gateway to academic achievement, cultural capital, and the world of work – where all young people deserve the opportunity to succeed.
Every student has the right to an outstanding provision of resources, staff and support to help them develop key literacy skills, develop a love of reading, and a passion for written expression which showcases their creativity and unique insights.
At Clare Mount Specialist Sports College, we aim to personalise literacy provision to meet the needs of every individual, across the full, diverse range of literacy abilities which are demonstrated by our students. We aim to use robust and reliable assessment data, student and staff voice, and in-lesson performance to form a clear picture of students’ existing literacy strengths and their areas for development.
Mr T Lindsay
Head of English
T.lindsay@claremount.wirral.sch.uk
Pathways for progression and clear and concise with targeted provision interventions used to support students where necessary. There is no “glass ceiling” for students at Clare Mount with progress rewarded and accessible challenge readily available when students make progress through the programmes.
Only with a secure knowledge-base in Literacy can students thrive in all aspects of the curriculum. Literacy transcends all aspects of young peoples’ lives with social interaction, academic achievement, and eventual employment only possible when the foundations of literacy have been laid.
Implementation
Students have dedicated Reading Development Sessions for 25 minutes every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. At the beginning of their journey with us, and then periodically throughout their enrolment at Clare Mount, students will be assessed for their Reading Age and Standardised Reading Score. Further testing for phonics will then take place for some students before all students are identified as either Initial Readers, Emerging Readers or Confident Readers:
- Initial Readers (Typically with a reading age <8) will be enrolled onto the Rocket Phonics programme to support their key phonetic skills - Knowledge of sounds, blending, and segmenting. Rocket Phonics will also look to address their handwriting, letter formation and word writing skills. The aim is for Initial Readers to graduate into emerging Readers
- Year 9 Initial Readers who have shown limited progress on Rocket Phonics will be moved onto Targeted Provision using a combination of multi-sensory-learning and Toe-by-Toe reading. This provision is delivered one-on-one by specially trained staff and is designed to boost students’ reading ability over a 12-week period, after which Students will either return to Rocket Phonics with the necessary skills to continue their progress as Initial Readers or they will move up to the next programme as an Emerging Reader
- Emerging Readers (with a reading age between 8 and 14 will be enrolled onto the Reading Plus programme, designed to support their reading fluency, pace and accuracy
- Confident Readers (with a reading age above 14) will be enrolled onto the Accelerated Reader and Myon programmes designed to support their love of reading and track their comprehension skills
Student progress is assessed through Renaissance Reading’s Star Literacy assessment and takes place at least three times a year, with data scrutinised extensively to establish progress at individual student, year group, select groups (such a PP+) and whole school level.
Impact
At Clare Mount Specialist Sports College our intention is to develop the literacy levels of all of our students, whilst harbouring in them, a passion and enthusiasm for reading. We aim to address areas of low confidence, demand avoidance and poor self-esteem as well as developing social skills and unlocking academic potential. At the end of their time with us, we aim to see all students making tangible, evidential progress with reading and literacy. This could be in the form of; improved reading data such as Reading Ages and Standardised Reading Scores; improved classroom performance; or a reduced dependency on Teaching Assistants.
Please find below some helpful links to sites we use to improve reading skills.
