Reading

Reading at Merit:

At Merit, we hope to develop a love for reading for all pupils. We encourage students to read for pleasure and to see the benefits of having good reading skills to help them with their lives after Merit. We appreciate that the students arrive to us with a varying degree of reading ability, but we aim to help students be confident readers before they leave our setting in Y11.

Reading as part of the curriculum

Each day students are given dedicated reading time after lunch. This is 10 minutes that has been allocated solely for reading for pleasure and students have chosen a class reader that they wished to read together. This is a time when they can enjoy the story, have time to read aloud in a safe environment and enjoy listening to somebody else read to them.

KS3 current class reader

Y10 current class reader

Y11 current class reader

Library visits for KS3

The KS3 class visit the local library each half-term and are able to borrow 1 or 2 books of their choosing. They are then given time as part of their English lessons to read and discuss their books. We currently have a school library card but hope that students will have their own individual library cards, allowing them to access the library and use their facilities outside of school time.

Bedrock Learning

We have invested in the Bedrock Learning Digital Literacy Curriculum and students are encouraged to use this on a regular basis. This allows students to develop their vocabulary and reading skills, as well as focusing on key grammar skills and cross-curricular vocabulary. Students are encouraged to try and earn between 20-30 points a week. This is a combination of time given in English lessons and pastoral time, and also a homework task each week. Students have engaged extremely well with Bedrock and enjoy completing the tasks to boost their reading skills.

Bookbuzz

Our KS3 students and Y10 students have taken part in the Bookbuzz reading programme this year. They have each chosen and received a book from a list of 16 nominated this year and have taken that home to keep and enjoy reading for pleasure. Students are also given time in lessons to read their books and will be taking part in activities to share the different titles with their classmates. The most popular choice this year was ‘Dreadwood’ by Jennifer Killick.

Dreadwood by Jennifer Killick

Reading support

We appreciate that all students arrive with different reading needs. As many of our students have been absent from school for a long time, many have reading needs that we aim to improve through their time at our setting.

Reading assessment

All students will be assessed termly for reading. We do this using the GL NGRT Reading tests. The results are extremely detailed and allow us to plan individual interventions for all students. It helps us to identify gaps in their reading skills and allows us to plan worthwhile interventions to improve their reading skills each term. These are often delivered in small groups or one-to-one.

Dyslexic students and struggling readers

Struggling readers and some dyslexic students need further intervention to help them to build and develop their reading skills. We use a range of interventions but the most common are Read Write Inc and Toe by Toe. These are delivered in small groups or one-to-one and help to address any gaps in their phonics knowledge. We also have a range of reading materials that explore appropriate content for teenagers, but are designed to encourage reluctant readers and those who may have a lower reading level.

Reading Well for teens

Reading Well for teens has been organised by The Reading Agency and is a scheme that is supported by Stoke-on-Trent libraries. It suggests reading and digital resources to help teenagers understand their feelings and help to increase their confidence. The suggested titles have been chosen by teens and health and wellbeing experts. The books chosen are suitable for teenagers 13-18 and include titles that are suitable for different reading levels. 

For more information please click here.

Reading Well for teens booklist.

Stoke Reads On

The Stoke Reads On challenge suggests 101 books for young people to read at secondary school and beyond.