At Brookhaven, we know that reading is an essential skill that our students will use not only throughout school but throughout their lives. As well as teaching reading skills, we hope to foster a love of reading for pleasure — promoting and rewarding reading in a variety of ways across the whole curriculum.
Our Approach to Reading
Reading sits at the heart of learning at Brookhaven. In English lessons, schemes of work are taught using challenging and engaging texts — such as Of Mice and Men, A Christmas Carol and Macbeth. Where appropriate, staff use adapted or EAL versions of texts to ensure all students can access the story and the learning.
Reading during any curricular lesson is recognised through our reading bonus credit system. No student is ever forced to read aloud — but when they do, bonuses are awarded. A 'Reader of the Week' certificate is given within each Key Stage to the student who has earned the most reading bonuses.
Every Friday morning, the whole school takes part in a dedicated DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) slot. Students can access a wide range of reading materials during this time, including fiction texts, Barrington Stoke books, audio books with QR-linked text, and non-fiction content via sites such as Newsround and BBC News. Students also love being read to by a member of staff — a regular feature of some DEAR sessions.
Our Sora online library gives students access to a broad range of titles both in school and at home, including read-along titles, low reading age/high interest age texts, comic books and graphic novels, and non-fiction. The app tracks reading activity and lets students earn achievements, adding a motivating game element to independent reading.
For students who arrive at Brookhaven without secure phonics knowledge, we have structured and well-resourced interventions in place to ensure no learner is left behind.
Without reading, it is impossible to access written information — on paper or online. Being unable to read significantly narrows the range of work and life opportunities available to a person. We aim to develop every student's literacy skills so that they can, as a minimum, function effectively within society.
Ruth Miskin Fresh Start
Some students arrive in Year 7 without the phonics knowledge required to decode words. We use the Ruth Miskin 'Fresh Start' programme with these students — a phonics-based approach designed to rescue struggling readers and writers who are below age-related expectations, using high-quality, engaging, age-appropriate materials.
Students are assessed each September and their progress is tracked using Fresh Start assessments. We currently have nine trained members of staff who can deliver the programme, and all school staff use the 'pure sounds' method with struggling readers, supported by an annual whole-staff refresher each September.
English Grouping & Streaming
Students are streamed for English so that specific reading support can be targeted effectively at KS3. Students in group 6 follow the Read Write Inc Fresh Start programme throughout all English lessons for the first two terms. Students in groups 4 and 5 use RWI strategies within lessons as required.
Comprehension
Many students can decode words but struggle to understand what they are reading. Specific comprehension interventions — including SALT resources — have worked well, helping students demonstrate understanding of images and develop the ability to infer information, before translating those skills to the written word.
As a secondary school, Brookhaven does not follow a single reading scheme. Instead, we draw on a range of age-appropriate materials and programmes suited to the needs of each student.
Reading & Comprehension Materials
- Fresh Start Anthologies
- Nelson Comprehension and Spelling books
- Rapid Readers
- Barrington Stoke age-appropriate texts
- Comic-strip versions of literary texts
Digital & Assessment Tools
- Sora — online library app (in school and at home)
- Lexia / Core 5 — home learning literacy platform
- Literacy Assessment Online — reading and spelling age assessment
- SOLAR — school data system with bespoke assessment statements
Tracking Progress
Progress is identified through a range of measures including termly data drops, progress through learning outcomes, teacher comments and next steps, performance in assessments and mini-tests, reading and spelling age tests, and work completed at home using Core 5 or Lexia. Appropriate interventions are put in place for any student not making expected progress.
Our assessment statements in SOLAR have been developed using information from the National Curriculum, Equals materials for English, and specifications, mark schemes and outcomes from a range of accreditation pathways.
Spelling
Students are encouraged to have a go at spelling words themselves, and phonetically plausible attempts are valued. Many of our students have experienced difficulties at primary school, so while we aim to correct spellings in a piece of work, we do not highlight every error. Weekly spellings have been used at KS3 in the past and may be re-introduced in the coming academic year.
Reading is everyone's responsibility at Brookhaven. All staff are aware of students' reading ages and are expected to plan lessons accordingly — ensuring that texts, language and differentiation are appropriate for the students being taught.
Key words are identified on planning documents and staff are expected to highlight these in their teaching. All staff use pure sounds to support students to decode words where necessary, and all staff received training on the school's reading strategy at the start of this academic year.
How Students Read in Lessons
Across subjects, students develop reading skills in a wide range of ways, including:
- Reading information from PowerPoint slides
- Reading instructions from task sheets or the board
- Sequencing and ordering written instructions
- Reading daily meal options
- Reading peer comments during assessment activities
- Reading staff feedback in books and carrying out research
Reading in Science
In science lessons, reading skills are developed through activities such as:
- Relating new keywords to everyday contexts
- Breaking down words to understand meaning (e.g. 'thermometer' — therm = heat, meter = measure)
- Defining new keywords using iPads and writing definitions in their own words
- Reading out information to others
- Researching to complete tasks and identify relevant information
- Accessing information sheets or extended reading materials for students who want to find out more
Technology & Accessibility
Students are able to use their iPads in all lessons to support reading access. Reading bonuses can be awarded even when students don't realise they are reading — for example, during Kahoot quizzes. The read aloud function on Word documents is particularly useful for students who struggle to read, and documents can be emailed so students can activate this in lessons. Some KS4 students also use reading pens.
VIPERS Questioning
We are incorporating VIPERS questioning — Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval and Summarising/Sequencing — into starter activities across subjects, with questioning pitched at the appropriate level for each class or student.