The Why

At Orchard Mead Academy, we intend to create confident readers who have the ability to develop a deep and true understanding of what they read and appreciate the importance and value of reading to access knowledge and support well- being. We aim to foster and promote a love of reading, fluency and a secure ability to comprehend information. It is important for us that children are able to comprehend at a high level rather than just sight read. In order to foster a love of reading across various genres, we aim to expose children to a wide range of texts and purchase books accordingly. Through our 3 tiers of Motivational reading, lessons in reading and support in reading, we develop all students to achieve excellence and combat any barriers to success.

We recognise the need to build a reading culture as ‘Schools that take the business of reading for pleasure seriously, where teachers read, talk with enthusiasm and recommend books, and where provision for reading is planned carefully, are more likely to succeed with their pupils’ reading.” Ofsted, May 2011.

Our approach to reading as an embedded part of the daily routine for students is rooted in the’ enduring power of reading to shape and develop minds, both in the classroom, and, ultimately, outside of it. Of the subjects taught in school, reading is first among equals- the most singular in importance because all others rely on it. Excellence in almost any subject requires strong reading’ (Reading Reconsidered, D, Lemov)

Lessons in Reading

We are an academy that centres all of our practices around research. To become experts, we must listen to experts. When approaching the science of reading, we have made great steps in reading, researching, testing and discussing the best approaches for our children. This research has led to a plan to enable all students in the academy to read every day with a variety of texts and to enable them to have a specific reading lesson.

Research analysis comparing the engaged reading time of 2.2 million students found that – 0-5 mins per day = well below national average 5-14 mins per day = sluggish gains, below national average 15+ mins = accelerated reading gains 20 mins per day = likely score better than 90% of their peers on standardised tests.   National Centre for Education Statistics

Daily reading sessions are planned for 30 mins and in each reading session, the children will be read part of a novel by the teacher. At specific points there will be work on vocabulary that helps understanding of what is about to be read followed by comprehension questions and discussion prompts. Where appropriate, other activities will be introduced to help the children to understand, contextualise and say individual words. Each of the groups is designed to address a certain skill that some children need to relearn or simply become better at. As you will appreciate, understanding and developing the vocabulary knowledge of students is vital in helping them to understand the challenging texts we are offering.

The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.

René Descartes

Questions and Answers for Parents

What is changing at OMA?

Orchard Mead Academy is transitioning into a reading school.  What does this mean?  It means that everything we do will be seen through the lens of reading and literacy.  How we plan our lessons, what we call ‘progress’ and the culture of our school.  The biggest immediate change is the introduction of a daily reading lesson.  Every day, whilst one half of the school has their lunch, the other half with have a reading lesson.  Reading lessons at Orchard Mead will be like any other lesson.  The teacher will lead the lesson and ensure that students are making progress.  They will read to them and measure whether they understand what is being read and develop their language skills.  Every term, your child will read a book in this lesson which means over the period of 5 years, they will have read approximately 1.5 million words.

Why is it changing?

After investigation, we now understand that literacy is a large barrier for our students meeting their academic potential.  We have made the decision to invest both time and money in this so we can help our young people not only to excel whilst they are with us but also to make sure that they have this essential lifelong skill.

What does it mean for my child?

Every student at OMA will be given a test to gauge their reading age.  They will then either remain in their reading group with their fellow tutees or be referred to the ‘requires intervention’ list that will help them to engage with, and progress within, their reading.  At the end of the year, we will re- test to make sure that all students are making rapid progress in their reading and to ascertain how their reading diet may need to be altered for them to make as much progress as possible.

When will they read?

We have designed the timetable so that we have a 30-minute lesson every day.  We will use Mondays to have assemblies and share messages and then from Tuesday to Friday, we have a 30-minute reading lesson every day for KS3 students.

What will my child be reading?

This is the exciting bit.  We have taken a great deal of time to discuss, analyse and arrive at book choices.  We wanted adventurous novels that pushed our students but were also just great stories that generations have enjoyed.

In the opening term, year 7 will be reading Lark by Anthony McGowan, year 8 will be reading Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes and year 9 will be reading Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall.

Choices have been made for the rest of the year are as follows:

My child can be quite nervous about reading. Will they have to read out in front of the class?

Research tells us that part of getting better at reading is about having an expert reader modelling what they sound like to others therefore, students will be listening to teachers read.  We aim for our lessons to develop F.A.S.E (Fluency, attentiveness, social and expressive) readers and as part of that they will be asked to listen carefully, follow the text, answer questions and at times be asked to read small chunks of text.

How will I know about their progress?

We will integrate reading ages as part of our reporting and your child will complete a reading assessment to track progress.

Will this cost me anything?

No. The substantial sum of money for this change to the school has been funded by both a grant and TMET.   We have planned, paid for and will provide all resources needed.

What can I do to help?

A parent’s role in this is vital.  The first thing we ask of you is to be a cheerleader and advocate for reading and this initiative. Secondly,  to encourage your child to read at home for 10 mins a day will prove invaluable.   Reading and the ability to read is a very emotive subject and something that everyone has feelings about.  If the students arrive positive and interested in what we are trying to achieve as a school, we are guaranteed success.

Who can I contact if I need to ask questions about reading?

The first point of contact must be the tutor of your child.  They will answer all questions regarding your child’s provision.  The head of year can help beyond this point as well as the Assistant Principal, Ms. Yusuf.