Introduction 

Before the 2023 summer holidays ended, I planned for the 2023/24 academic year, within the role and remit of the Literacy Mentor. A Padlet noticeboard started as out as a few scrappy ideas and a clutter of things to consider.  As the year went on, I tracked the progress in many ways. Looking back is a way of looking forward. A good way to track changes, evaluate and expand ideas.

Hypothesis 

Predictions for the outcome are dependent upon active engagement from students, applied alongside that of rigorous and well-compiled materials. To this end, it is predictable that an increase in reading engagement is forecastable.  

Methods 

Active Reading	That Reading Thing	In Class Support	Book Club	Writing Club
Inference and vocabulary-based tasks from an active reading booklet, tailored to the specific needs of the students.	Students work from sound to print using age-appropriate vocabulary and authentic reading material. The method is rooted in linguistic phonics but has grown its own way of working with older learners for the fastest possible results.	An instructional arrangement in which a paraprofessional provides education services in the general education setting, to allow students to access the materials and develop their ideas. Metacognitive techniques, Active Reading, etc. can be applied.	Reading For Pleasure’s masthead allows exploration of text and words for a small group, but is promoted to the entire school community, through modelling, displays and visibility.

Results 

Active Reading results largely demonstrated an upward turn. Results were shared internally and to the school governors.

Reading For Pleasure has been researched and implemented in greater depth than the autumn-winter term. Below are some highlights: 

• Writing and reading competitions (multiple entries have been permissible in some cases). Winners roll of honour established with 12 books containing students’ works.

• 2 online video author meets (Tom Palmer/Joseph Coelho) 

• World Book Day voucher distribution, alongside sponsored Readathon event (in progress) 

• Over 140 books have been obtained from publishers, book groups and, online video events. A list is available. 

In Class Support was provided across year 10 and 11 classes. All students completed entry assessments (YARC). Due to impending GCSEs and other assessments, no exit assessment was completed. This is something to amend for the future.

Form time reading groups Year 10 (Friday) and Year 11 (Wednesday) have completed their Active Reading booklets. Year 10 Tuesday has been affected by behaviour barriers, with the challenging students removed, allowing others to continue uninterrupted. Future provision for disruptive students and how to support them better would need to be considered.

That Reading Thing (TRT) allowed one student to be considered a model of success. Documented spelling, grammar and reading (with inference skills) have been logged. He has developed a great sense of reading for pleasure and is turning into a bookworm. That student had attempted writing book reviews, poetry and article writing, to deepen his TRT experience. It is arguable that he could leave the TRT sessions, however, to further good habits and create encouragement throughout this academic year, he will remain with the TRT programme. 

One student joined TRT, and at first, was receptive and engaged. He eventually felt intimidated by one-to-one approach. Said student eventually scored highly in YARC, LAO assessments and NGRT – allowing him to exit TRT. He remains an at-risk student but was never truly in need of the TRT programme.  

Another student resisted TRT from the offset. Again, this student was an at-risk student who likely would benefit from this programme. He was heavily influenced by a previous TRT student. As that TRT student left our school for another school, it may be feasible to reinstate that student into the TRT programme with less resistance. 

Two further students joined TRT sessions on a Monday morning. Each made steady progression in efforts and output. Both require more sessions of TRT. 

Conclusion 

Due to reading comprehension being vitally important in secondary education, the active reading intervention is also important for educators to be mindful of because of the huge impact it can have on reading fluency as students transition from KS3 to KS4. The methods utilise a stacked approach of research-based methods, including reading aloud, assisted reading, and repeated reading in order to give students the chance to be active readers. In addition to this, it encourages reading habits for pleasure and curiosity by selecting appropriate and engaging materials.  

Supplementing regular classroom instruction with Active Reading successfully accelerated the reading development of the vast majority of students. On the whole, the methods increased each student’s word recognition, automaticity, reading prosody, decoding skills, word knowledge, and reading comprehension. Focusing on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension allows students to access a greater deal of text.  

Evaluation 

Strengths:  

1. Ease of use of available materials for Active Reading. 

2. Talented and enthusiastic staffing for literacy throughout the school community. 

3. Knowledge and skill base of teachers and support staff allows for shared good practice. 

4. Recognition that evidence-based and evidence-informed methods need to be partnered with challenging and suitable reading materials. 

Opportunities:  

1. Reluctant and ignored students can be caught and empowered. 

2. Literacy partners are available via local libraries and bookshops. 

3. Increased demand for well-read individual talent, with opportunities to perform, compete and be published. 

4. In the future, a further noticeboard has been created to plan the Reading for Pleasure remit of our school in a deeper and broader look at possibilities, angles and ways to entice both the established and the most reluctant of readers.  

5. Further opportunities to replicate the scheme to target a greater population of students. 

6. Continued possibility to adapt materials and include a greater diversity of targeted reading texts. 

7. Social and media promotion opportunities, e.g. blow our own trumpet. 

Weaknesses:  

1. Better Reading foundation and transition from this programme to Active Reading can clash with the Maths department’s intervention programmes. 

2. Lack of graphic novels/comic books/recent publications. 

3. Other schools have clearly set spaces for reading, library and micro-libraries; as well as tablet computers dedicated to reading. 

4. Resource limitations (regionally and nationally). 

5. Unclear visibility of long-term literacy goals? 

Threats:  

1. Numerous schools have established models for literacy or are re-evaluating literacy based on evidence-based and evidence-informed models. We should not be left standing. 

2. Literacy censorship and availability of some texts? 

3. Negative press of reading materials (e.g. The Secret Garden, etc.) 

4. Changing social and behavioural habits towards reading. 

5. Budgeting constraints, room availability, and student attendance. 

Further Evidence 

Further evidence has been kept securely and privately within school, as per GDPR.