Why reading matters…

  • Reading is a fundamental skill to unlock individual potential.
  • Reading is at the heart of every subject and is proven to improve cultural capital.
  • 14-year-olds who read often and independently know 26% more words than those who never read.
  • Each subject requires students to read text which have specific features that need to be recognised and identified to ensure full comprehension.

‘The reading rich get richer; the reading poor get poorer.’ – Alex Quigley

The importance of vocabulary…

  • For full comprehension of a text, a student must understand 90-95% of the vocabulary which enables them to access high quality texts.
  • Students need a wide range of academic vocabulary to succeed across the curriculum.
  • At Birches Head Academy, we apply a consistent approach to teaching vocabulary in every subject.

Literacy at Birches Head Academy.

  • We have a whole school approach to teaching reading, including providing targeted vocabulary instruction in every subject.
  • We promote active reading by expecting all students to track the text, identify unfamiliar words and improve reading comprehension.
  • We provide bespoke literacy intervention to ensure every student is successful in reading.
  • Our Disciplinary Literacy Strategy across the school provides reading for understanding; whilst we use our library to promote Reading for Pleasure.

Great readers…

Predict – they make educated guesses about what might happen based on inferences.

Summarise – they use their own word to show their understanding.

Ask question – they listen and formulate questions as they read, then ask and discuss this with others.

Clarify – they check the meaning of new vocabulary so they fully understand the context of the text.

Specific Reading Strategies

Fresh Start Inc

Delivered to students who reading ages show they have not progressed from phonetically awareness. Fresh Start is a catch-up intervention delivered by Teaching Assistants that offers a simple but powerful solution to accelerate reading.


Lexia Power Up

Lexia targets KS3 students who need to improve their reading ability by placing them at the appropriate level in the three areas of:


Word study – targets gaps in basic reading skills and develops academic vocabulary

Grammar – improves written composition and reading comprehension

Comprehension – teaches the skills require for higher order text analysis.

Better Reader

A 1-1 reading approach with a trained specialist that is delivered for 20 minute four times a week, which accelerates reading comprehension.

Disciplinary Literacy in English

Our English department have combined Disciplinary Literacy with promote a love for reading and have 15 dedicated texts that they deliver once a fortnight which are designed to open the eyes of the pupils to the world outside of Stoke-on-Trent.

We believe reading is a fundamental cultural experience that enables students to ask questions, gain the empathy and have humility and acceptance, whilst also being fun and good for individual wellbeing.