Information on the approaches to teaching reading at DPA

Derby Pride Academy is committed to raising the standards of reading for all pupils. It is important that all pupils develop the ability to read confidently and independently to cope with the demands of everyday life.

Teaching effective reading skills is not just the responsibility of the English department. All subjects, where pupils are expected to read, are taking steps to develop these skills and provide opportunities for them to acquire the appropriate knowledge.

Upon entry, pupils complete a reading test which determines their reading age and highlights the skills they need to develop. This information is included in pupils' Pen Portraits, in addition to strategies to support addressing cognitive barriers to reading.

Pupils resit the test once a term to monitor progress. However, staff are aware of pupils' general ability when it comes to reading and so progress or issues are noticed quickly.

Once a book has been completed, whether as part of D.E.A.R. or in pupils' social time, pupils complete a recall sheet which includes a brief summary of what they have read, what they liked about the book, what they did not like and a general summary of the characters. 

Specific strategies on the approaches to the teaching of reading:

• KS3 reading lessons.
• Cloze activities to support word recognition and comprehension.
• Different text types implemented daily.
• Displays for key words. and technical vocabulary
• Language for learning as a focus of lesson objectives.
• Using texts related to local surrounding to personalise and engage pupils during R2L.
• Activities linked to a range of reading strategies: empathising, inferring, close reading, but to name a few.
• A whole academy approach to 'Drop Everything and Read' on a weekly basis.
• 1:1 extract to engage with reading and develop fluency.
• 1:1 extract to extend vocabulary using 100 high frequency words and the Oxford 3000 as milestones.
• Independent reading logs.