Reading Strategy

At Oasis Academy Wintringham, the development of literacy skills across all curriculum areas is seen as a priority and this is a shared commitment of every member of staff, no matter what subject they teach. Having confident literary skills is the key to unlocking the future for our young people.

Accelerated Reader has been fully implemented for all students in Years 7-9 to develop their comprehension when reading fiction/non-fiction texts. A student's ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) is identified via an online adaptive reading age test; this then generates a reading range which students select texts from. The Academy Learning Resource Centre has an extensive range of texts which cover the full range of Renaissance levels and students select colour coded, appropriate texts and then read them during their one hour LRC lesson; as well as a 30 minute reading session at the start of one their English lessons and during three tutor periods. Students carry a bookmark which clearly evidences their progression across the week(s) and they are also set a 30 minute reading session as homework.

Once a student has completed a test, they take an online Reading Practice Quiz based on the book they have read. These quizzes focus on fine detail from the texts and so students cannot pass unless they have fully understood what they have read. The minimum required to pass is 60% and we reward students who achieve 100%. Once students are successful, when quizzing, they are then encouraged to read a more challenging text thereby developing their reading skills. Staff can monitor the number of quizzes students take as well as their book levels and success rate to ensure progress is being made. Students also complete reading record books to track their progress and record new vocabulary they encounter. This is also the place where staff record comments as they listen to students read aloud; in doing so they are developing their fluency as well as their comprehension.