Best Practice

Reading: Ten ways to help students become great readers

Literacy and numeracy Whole-school issues
More than a quarter of year 6 pupils arrive in secondary school behind the ‘expected standard’ for reading. Tiffnie Harris offers 10 approaches that will help these young people to catch up
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According to former US President Harry S Truman: “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”

We are not all destined to be presidents or prime ministers however good we are at reading of course. But it is a quote that speaks volumes about the importance of reading for our life chances – and those of our students.

However, the reality is that more than a quarter of year 6 children missed the “expected standard” in reading in the last set of key stage 2 tests. And that, of course, is a problem for them when it comes to accessing the rest of the curriculum as well as the world around them.

Among disadvantaged children the statistics are even more stark with 40% missing the expected standard – part of a vicious cycle of low incomes, struggling households, and educational attainment which leaves these children lagging behind their better-off peers.

As ever, there are no quick fixes. This is a problem that requires a sustained approach day-in, day-out – as does so much in education. Here are 10 considerations for secondary colleagues.

 

1, Don’t blame the primaries

Primary schools work hard to teach reading and writing alongside a full suite of other subjects and there is only so much they can do. Getting ahead of the game is key. Knowing year 6 literacy levels before students arrive in year 7 will help prepare for early interventions.

Some secondary schools deliver a transition/intervention programme over the summer. This might not work for all, but you could find out who the bottom 20% of readers are before they arrive. Who are the weakest writers? Is any low-level behaviour a result of poor literacy? Do any external factors create a barrier?

End of key stage 2 question-level analysis (QLA) data is provided to secondary schools before the start of the new term and while this might seem a daunting data file, just knowing who is below the expected standard in reading and writing will move you more quicky out of the starting blocks.

The level of literacy required in secondary is also different to primary.

Being able to understand, for example, key words in the science curriculum is something that might pose new challenges for some learners.

Training teaching assistants to deliver phonics in key stage 3 might be something you have invested in but do prepare for a different response from an 11-year-old compared with their enthusiasm at aged 5!

 

2, It is not a job for the English department

The English department can support of course, but boosting whole-school literacy requires a whole-school approach. The Department for Education’s Reading Framework (DfE, 2023) might be a useful starting point.

 

3, Professional development must be prioritised

Invest in CPD. Include a literacy objective in improvement plans and share with everyone, including governors (who should be raising questions and providing support and challenge about this in their meetings). Add literacy to line manager meeting agendas. Keep literacy front and centre in your whole-school drive for improvement.

 

4, Know, share, and understand your data

Do all teachers know the students’ reading ages? Can all students read with fluency and confidence? Can all students write well? Which learners might need more time to comprehend? Who rarely speaks the answers in class discussion? Is low-level disruption in lessons or poor attendance linked to classes that require the most reading and writing? Or perhaps a student is asking to go to the toilet more often in lessons that require higher literacy levels?

 

5, Reading for pleasure matters

Read for pleasure, not for inspection. Start a staff reading group. If you have decided upon a set text reading list for tutor periods that everyone follows, consider that some tutors might not be inspired (or confident enough) to read, say, The Iliad out loud to their class. And if the tutor is not engaged, the tutor group won’t be either. Some students might not be following the text even though it looks like they are. And it is precisely these students that you most need to make this work for.

Teaching workloads are high and time is precious, so any reading strategy needs to be considerate and supportive to make sure it is effective.

 

6, Utilise your school library and librarian

Add book fairs, author visits, coffee mornings, poetry evenings and reading weeks to the school calendar. Make literacy events inclusive for everyone. Include parents and the wider community. Are library lessons planned and taught or a period where students just look like they are reading? Rotate library lessons so they do not just happen in English. Find out who your local writers are.

Give literacy the same status as other high-profile events in the school calendar. How can you get everyone to enter a writing competition at some point in a school year? Who has never borrowed from the school library and what would encourage them? Is there a local library you could work with or a team of local volunteers and sixth-formers who could support paired reading?

 

7, Overhaul your library

Books must be up-to-date, inviting and with something for all reading abilities and interests. What are the opening hours? A school library can be a place for everyone to be guided as readers. It might be time for an audit.

 

8, Remove (other) strategies that do not work

Some strategies might have lost their way. Why is the “I am currently reading…” whiteboard on the back of your history teacher’s door still blank? How long has the head of science been reading Lessons in Chemistry? How do some parents feel when they get an email from a teacher with the sign off “I am excited to be reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky’’?

Any strategy will only work when it is supported, encouraged, and consistently monitored. Some strategies may put off those who you most need to motivate and engage. Don’t pile on additional strategies until you have assessed the ones already in place.

 

9, Disciplinary literacy

“Disciplinary literacy recognises that literacy skills are both general and subject-specific” and support a focus on every teacher communicating their subject by teaching all students to “write like a mathematician” or to “read like a scientist” and “debate like a historian”. This recent Education Endowment Foundation blog on disciplinary literacy (Butlin, 2023) is a good starting point to find out more.

 

10, Collaborate and be innovative

Social media literacy groups share many resources. Tap into organisations like the National Literacy Trust, BookTrust, and the School Library Association.

Research Schools deliver a range of useful training courses. Use World Book Day (March 7 this year) as a driver. Follow literacy leaders and those leading the field in research and read about national literacy projects (see further information).

 

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