Reading

At Wykham Park Academy, we have a multifaceted approach to supporting our students’ literacy development.

This includes:

Tier 2 word lists that are explicitly taught for all schemes of learning to grow students’ vocabularies
Weekly mentor reading booklets in Years 7-10 with termly curriculum links
Planned for rigorous academic texts across the curriculum
A resourced library and a librarian that encourages reading for pleasure and engages actively with lessons
Whole-school literacy marking stickers supported by departmental assessment policies
Lexia PowerUp used across our entire Year 7 cohort to address previous gaps in word study, grammar and comprehension knowledge
Thinking Reading to support struggling readers who require one-to-one intervention

Our school places a high value on reading and believe we have the responsibility to ensure every child leaves a critical, active and wide reader. We encourage our community to read often and independently, and our librarian, Mrs Michell, has put together reading lists as a starting point. All of the texts suggested on the list are available for loan from our library.

We welcome author talks and have a weekly reading hour as part of the ATL curriculum for Years 7 and 8, whereby students participate in before/ during/ after activities. Extra-curricular clubs also form an important part of our approach, enabling students to share their interests with like-minded peers.

Many parents and carers are eager to empower young people at home through reading, and we endeavour to assist in a number of practical ways, including the advice outlined by PixL concerning the benefits of reading and ways to encourage reading.
Reading support for parents

Library