Reading, Vocabulary and Oracy
All students at Neale Wade are expected to read often and widely in order to develop vital skills for all subjects as well as life. They are expected to have a reading book with them every day. Regular library visits are scheduled for tutor times and drop-ins are available every break-time. Students in Years 7-10 read once a week with their tutors for half an hour a book chosen for its pastoral content. These books support our Character Curriculum and Make a Difference campaign.
We have a comprehensive reading intervention programme to support struggling readers. All students are tested twice a year and reading ages are shared with staff to inform their planning. We use three intervention programmes: Read, Write, Inc, Thinking Reading and Corrective Reading.
Academic Literacy underpins all aspects of the Neale Wade Learning Cycle in lessons, and there is compelling evidence supporting our focus in this area. The EEF Guidance Report on Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools says: ‘Literacy is fundamental for success in school and later life. Students who cannot read, write, and communicate effectively are highly unlikely to access the challenging academic curriculum in secondary school and are more likely to have poor educational outcomes across all subjects.’ It also reminds us that ‘reading, writing, speaking and listening, are at the heart of every subject in secondary school.’
As a result, we prioritise Academic Literacy for the following reasons:
· To address the literacy gap - students with low literacy levels are held back ‘at every stage of life.’
· To address the increasingly challenging curriculum: memory and retention of knowledge; the ability to read and understand examination questions; the ability to write like an expert in each discipline.
· To address the gap in cultural capital - greater cultural awareness and knowledge enables students to build clearer mental models when accessing subject specific materials.
· Research shows that students need 50,000 words in their vocabulary to be able to effectively access the curriculum in secondary school.
Curriculum Leaders plan for Literacy, Reading and Oracy via their Curriculum Intent documents. The EEF Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools report (2021) informs practice at Neale Wade. Additionally, the excellent work of Voice 21 guides our practice in Oracy approaches.
In our lessons we aim to:
Prioritise ‘disciplinary literacy’ across the curriculum through medium term and short term planning, having specialist subject teachers who are aware of the disciplinary literacy needs within a subject and understand how to teach students to read, write and communicate effectively in their subjects.
Provide targeted vocabulary instruction in every subject through a range of approaches, focusing on pronunciation, etymology, common root words and word connections. Curriculum leaders prioritise key academic vocabulary and plan to undertake deliberate vocabulary teaching through their Reading Intent documents. We prioritise teaching Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary, which students are unlikely to encounter in everyday speech through word walls and glossaries, use of the NWA Dictionary and through explicit teaching. We provide definitions and place words in context; often dual coding.
Develop students’ ability to read complex academic texts through sharing the reading of complex texts with the group, modelling decoding key information before support is gradually removed to promote independence. We recognise that students need to actively engage with what they are reading and use their existing subject knowledge for comprehension.
Provide opportunities for structured talk (Oracy) through promoting high quality talk structured and guided by teachers. Discussing how talk can be subject specific. Teachers support students by modelling high quality talk, for example including key vocabulary and metacognitive reflection.