Reading At Kirton Academy
At Kirton Academy, we believe reading is essential and as such, it is at the heart of our curriculum. Reading boosts cognitive development, fosters language skills, and expands vocabulary, leading to higher academic performance. It enhances imagination, empathy, and concentration while reducing stress. Regular reading improves school readiness, social-emotional skills, and long-term literacy.
How We Support Reading In School:
- Students have access to the school library before school, during break, lunch time and after school, where there is an extensive range of texts available to read for pleasure and to assist them in their studies.
- A librarian is on hand to support students in reading for pleasure.
- During form time, students in years 7-10 share a form reader text as part of our commitment to encourage reading for pleasure.
- Students have dedicated time during English lessons to visit the library, read quietly and complete quizzes as part of our Accelerated Reader Programme.
- All students are tested for reading ages so that a bespoke plan can be implemented for any additional reading needs.
- Reading Plus and Read Write Inc is available to identified year 7, 8 and 9 students to assist them in developing reading fluency and comprehension.
- Throughout the year, we have visiting authors, theatre performances and literacy events in connection with the National Literacy Trust.
- Across the curriculum, a range of reading strategies such as pre teaching of vocabulary, summarising of texts and comprehension are employed to support student’s understanding of texts.
- As part of our rewards programme, pupils have the chance to use achievement points to purchase free books from our KA awards vending machine.
How Parents Can Support With Reading:
1. Encourage your child to read
Reading helps a child’s wellbeing, develops imagination, cultural capital and supports learning in all areas of the curriculum. Reading regularly can have a huge impact on children of all ages. At Kirton Academy all children in year 7 and 8 are required to have a reading book as part of their school equipment. Homework at year 7 is to read every night for around 15 to 20 minutes with the aim of completing a book every two weeks, depending on length and complexity.
2. Encourage reading choice
Give children lots of opportunities to read different things in their own time - it doesn’t just have to be books. There’s fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comics, magazines, recipes and much more. Our library is open to all students and contains a wide variety of different genres.
3. Talk about books
This is a great way to make connections, develop understanding and make reading even more enjoyable. Start by discussing the front cover and talking about what it reveals and suggests the book could be about. You could talk about how the book makes you feel and whether it reminds you of anything.
Should you require any extra support or information about reading, please contact our Literacy Lead, Mrs Cook via enquiries@kirtonacademy.co.uk
