A whole school programme to raise reading standards
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Information about the school:
Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron is a bilingual 11-19 comprehensive school that is maintained by Ceredigion local authority. There are 581 pupils on roll. Around 27% of pupils have additional learning needs (ALN), which is above the national average (over three years) in secondary schools, of 16.1%.
Around 30.5% of pupils come from Welsh-speaking homes, 50.1% come from non-Welsh-speaking homes and 19.4% do not speak Welsh. Nearly all pupils come from white British backgrounds. The senior leadership team includes the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, two assistant headteachers and one senior teacher.
The school has specialist learning bases for pupils, including:
- Canolfan y Môr – A specialist centre that caters for pupils with profound speech and communication needs, along with pupils with autism, sensory and medical needs.
- Canolfan Croeso – A life skills centre that provides individual provision for pupils and supports them (depending on their age and ability) through mainstream provision.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
The school’s vision is to ‘ensure that our students are ready to face the challenges of the 21st Century and that we support them to develop their potential academically, physically, socially and emotionally’. Through whole-school evaluation processes, leaders have teachers have sought to develop pupils’ reading skills. In particular, the focus is to develop reading for understanding. To address this, in addition to interventions at departmental level, a whole-school programme has been developed to raise reading standards.
Description of the nature of the strategy or activity
The strategy was developed based on research and then by joint planning and co-creation between the Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo), the Senior Teacher for Teaching and Learning and the head of the Welsh and English departments.
The reading scheme is based on the principles of ‘shared reading’. The aim is to:
- promote strong relationships between the teacher and pupil and from pupil to pupil.
- promote shared learning as pupils learn from each other.
- build pupils’ confidence by visiting text more than once.
- model quality reading through modelling by the teacher.
- develop a variety of reading comprehension skills.
To be able to run the sessions, registration groups were reorganised and detailed plans were made to ensure that the provision was able to run for all pupils in Years 7 to 9 at the same time. In a bilingual school with a high proportion of ALN pupils, timetables had to be adapted and detailed plans had to be made.
Training was given by the leaders of the scheme to all teaching and learning support staff. The element of training everyone together was an important feature of developing the scheme as a whole-school strategy. It was explained to staff how to lead the activities and how to model reading effectively. As this was a priority that was produced based on the opinions of staff, most staff committed to the scheme very well.
There are 2 sessions each week. During the first session, there is an initial discussion about the text – ‘what can we see about the piece immediately?’ Then, there is a period of quiet, independent reading. After this, the teacher models reading by paying full attention to expression and intonation, using a ‘pointer’ to connect the words to their voice. To conclude the session, there is an opportunity for pupils to practise reading the passage aloud to the class.
During the second session, the teacher models effective reading again – using the same passage. Pupils are also expected to read aloud. There is an opportunity to check pupils’ understanding of the meaning of words and the piece as a whole. Then, pupils apply the information, which is now familiar to them, by answering questions in the form of ‘Darllen Caredig’ (Crynhoi, Awgrymu, Rhagfynegi, Esbonio, Dilyniant, I gof, Geirfa – Summarise, Suggest, Predict, Explain, Sequence, Memorise, Vocabulary).
While a majority of pupils complete the activities in their registration classes, pupils with less developed reading skills are supported by staff from the ALN department. The structure of the scheme is exactly the same, but pupils are given support in appropriate groups. The ALNCo chooses and/or creates catchy and interesting reading texts, which have been differentiated significantly – up to 5 different levels to ensure an appropriate challenge for everyone.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
This work at Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron has led to raising the profile of the importance of reading among the school’s pupils and staff. It has led to wider reading opportunities being provided in lessons across the range of subjects. Having sought the opinion of staff, the majority acknowledge that pupils’ reading skills are improving.
It was noted during the Estyn inspection that ‘most pupils read aloud willingly and many do so confidently’ (Estyn, March 2023) and an ‘excellent example of support is the bilingual group reading sessions twice a week, where a number of pupils with poor reading skills make significant progress over time in their reading and processing skills.’ Leaders focus on improving and strengthening pupils’ reading skills and promoting their interest and enjoyment of reading. The school fosters a culture of reading that provides beneficial experiences for pupils across the school. Opportunities such as the guided reading sessions promote enjoyment and encourage pupils to be independent readers.
How have you shared your good practice?
Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron has shared these good practices with other schools in the local authority during meetings between schools.