Celebrating Reading at Wellacre

Posted at 2:05 pm on 6th March, 2024

Commitment to Reading at All Levels

At Wellacre, we value and celebrate reading and as such, it is a key strategic focus for all.

We have established a reading culture in which all students are encouraged and supported to read for pleasure.

Wellacre makes regular checks on how well students read and use this information to identify students who require intervention and tailor support accordingly. 

We are pleased to note the impact of all our work on students’ reading test scores for Autumn, with a significant 6.3%  increase in the number of students reading at or above their chronological age.  From our analysis, it is evident our work is successfully closing some of the gaps in students’ reading ability. This means that these students can access the curriculum more easily. 

Principal Mrs Sharrock said:

“Well done to the boys for their efforts with reading and to all the staff who support reading (catch-up literacy) and the development of vocabulary through subjects. The boys who work hard on Inclusion led reading intervention programmes have made amazing progress. 

Our commitment to reading at all levels includes staff-led Catch-up Literacy, Reading Ambassador peer programme (for Year 8 and primary children), Bookbuzz and book sharing scheme, and primary peer observation in the cross phase KS2/3 reading project.

At recent staff literacy CPD for reading, we shared the success of Literacy initiatives and focused on components of reading, decoding and comprehension.  

Future initiatives planned to celebrate reading at Wellacre include the World Book Day programme of events, the introduction of Reading Champions, the training of Year 10 students to widen the scope of targeted reading with Year 8, and further KS4 intervention and support for targeted students.

Mr Hedge, Assistant Leader of English, said: 

“We’re incredibly proud of the progress our students have made with their dedication to reading this academic year. 

“We are looking forward to further harnessing our students’ love for reading over the next few months. We hope our students will appreciate the wide range of activities and opportunities we have designed for World Book Day!”