Here at St Christopher’s, we take great pride in our prioritisation of reading and literacy. We aspire to promote high standards of literacy, articulacy and the correct use of language in every subject, rooted in the values of our foundation scripture:
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1:3
In our Christian school, the teaching of reading and literacy is a cornerstone of education and is exhibited through functional reading, writing, speaking and listening. This includes pupils’ ability to communicate in a range of contexts, across the curriculum. High level literacy skills are essential in ensuring pupils’ achievement in school and their ability to access further education and employment once they leave. It is important to note that literacy skills, whilst clearly a primary focus of English, are used across the school. We aim to ensure that these skills are developed and reinforced across our school curriculum.
At St Christopher’s the teaching of reading and literacy can be broken down into four key areas:
- The accuracy of spoken or written language
- The understanding and application of core skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening
- The understanding and correct use of subject specific and wider vocabulary
- The promotion and development of reading
In 2021, the Ofsted ‘Reading Framework’ noted that:
‘The reading and writing of Standard English, alongside proficient language development, is the key to unlocking the rest of the academic curriculum. Pupils who struggle to read struggle in all subjects and the wonders of a knowledge-rich curriculum passes them by unread. Fluency of reading is also a key indicator for future success in further education, higher education and employment.’
Therefore, as a school our purpose is to:
- To raise the literacy attainment at every level in all subject areas to ensure that we give every pupil the opportunity to maximise their potential.
- To recognise that all teachers are facilitators of reading and literacy and have a responsibility to promote high expectations both, across all subject specialisms.
- To sustain and develop high standards of disciplinary literacy, where the subject’s way of reading, speaking and writing are integrated and mapped into curriculum intent.
- To foster a love of reading, through a reading rich curriculum.
- To enable all pupils to have the opportunity to become effective readers, speakers, and writers, and provide targeted intervention to support pupils’ skills.
Every child reading in class
Pupils at St Christopher’s are encouraged to reading in all lessons, developing skills of comprehension, fluency and prosody. To support those pupils who find reading more challenging we provide catch up intervention programs run in collaborations with our SEND department, reading mentor schemes throughout Yr7-9, and monitor all students through termly reading tests. Every school day begins with the opportunity for a different year group, promoting reading independently, and for pleasure, with numerous competitions from our school library, found here.
To support literacy and reading at home we have produced termly newsletters, alongside helpful guidance, which some parents may find useful, and can be accessed on pdf via these links:
Reading for Pleasure
At St Christopher's we encourage all pupils to read for pleasure. Click on the image below to see an example of how we have promoted this within our school community and to find out about which books our staff enjoyed when they were at school.
Reading Bulletins
As a school we embrace opportunities to refine our own practice, promoting reading in every subject and reflecting on current trends in educational research. The reading bulletin produced to support our work in the classroom can be found here:
2023-24
2022-23
Policy
If you would like to view the schools literacy policy, please click here.
World Book Day
Take a look at our PowerPoint presentation which covers some of the activities we had for the wider school community during World Book Day. Click here to download a copy.