Reading

Our mission is to ensure that every child learns how to read and experiences the joy of reading. If students are not able to read to an age-appropriate level and fluency, they will be incapable of accessing the rest of the curriculum and will rapidly fall behind their peers. In our school, we prioritise early reading to ensure that all our students can access the full curriculum offer. At all stages, reading attainment is assessed and gaps are addressed quickly and effectively for all students. 

Phonics

We follow the Read Write Inc. programme for teaching phonics. This rigorous and sequential approach to early reading develops students’ fluency, confidence and enjoyment in reading. When using RWI to read the children will:

• Learn that sounds are represented by written letters (graphemes)
• Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts
• Learn how to blend sounds
• Learn to read words using Fred Talk
• Read lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out
• Show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions

When using RWI to write the children will:

• Learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent 44 sounds
• Learn to write words by saying the sounds in Fred Talk
• Write simple sentences

Thanks to the resulting fluency and confidence, children can then put all their energy into comprehending what they read. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write.

From Reception, we teach our students in small groups that are organised according to their specific needs. Phonemes and graphemes are taught in fun and engaging ways. Each session lasts between 45 minutes and 1 hour, and includes a variety of activities delivered with pace and rigour. Children learn and review sounds every day, which and new learning is put into practice with reading and writing activities.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” - Dr. Seuss

Ensuring our students leave school as strong and confident readers is a key priority in the secondary phase of Ark Globe. Through reading students are exposed to:

• vocabulary that enables them to express themselves
• ideas and knowledge that enables them to engage in discourse on a number of topics
• new worlds and experiences that allows them to makes sense of themselves, others and the world around them

Reading activities in school

A typical day for all students includes guided reading of a set text in Learning Family Time each morning, as well as reading 500-1000 words in every lesson. Additional reading activities include:

• Bedrock Learning for Year 7 students to boost their vocabulary
• A weekly library lesson for Years 7-9. In this lesson, students speak to the librarian about the book they're reading, keep a reading log and receive guidance on which books they could read next.
• Knowledge organisers for Years 7-11, which summarise key words and content to be studied in the half term ahead. By learning key vocabulary in advance, students are better able to grasp knowledge and understanding in lesson.
• A twice-yearly reading age test for all students, which is reported to parents alongside strategies to use at home to improve reading.  
• A reading club for 30 minutes every day for students with the lowest reading ages, alongside additional literacy interventions during the school day.

Reading outside of school

We expect students to read at least 20 minutes every day at home in the evening, and a total of at least 4 books each term outside of their lessons (12 books a year).

Recommended Reading: Year 7-9
Agbabi, Patience – The Infinite
Blackman, Malorie – Hacker
Blackman, Malorie – Pig Heart Boy
Burne, Cristy – Takeshita Demons
Carter, Angela – The Bloody Chamber
Cline, Ernest – Ready Player One
Coelho Paulo – The Alchemist
Gaiman, Neil – Coraline
Grahame, Kenneth – The Wind in the Willows
Gourlay, Candy – Shine
Hinton, S.E. – The Outsiders
Horowitz, Anthony – Strombreaker
Hosseini, Khalid – The Kite Runner
Morpurgo, Michael – Kensuke’s Kingdom
Orwell, George – Nineteen Eighty-Four
Pullman, Philip – Northern Lights
Rhodes, Jewell Parker – Ghost Boys
Stone, Nic – Clean Getaway
Tolkien, J.R.R – The Fellowship of the Ring
Townsend, Sue – The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole

Recommended Reading: Year 10-11
Akala – Natives
Ali, Monica – Brick Lane
Achebe, Chinua – Things Fall Apart
Adichi, Chimamanda Ngozi – Americanah
Adiga, Aravind – The White Tiger
Angelou, Maya – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Bronte, Emily – Wuthering Heights
Brown, Dan – The Da Vinci Code
Hamid, Mohsin – The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Harris, Robert – Fatherland
Hornby, Nick – About a Boy
Huxley, Aldous – Brave New World
Hosseini, Khalid – A Thousand Splendid Suns
Lee, Harper – To Kill a Mockingbird
Martel, Yann – Life of Pi
Obama, Michelle - Becoming
Rai, Bali – (Un)arranged marriage
Salinger, J.D. – Catcher in the Rye
Selvon, Sam – The Lonely Londoners
Shukla, Nikesh – Run Riot
Steinbeck, John – Of Mice and Men
Thomas, Angie – The Hate U Give
Walker, Alice – The Colour Purple
Yousafzi, Malala – I am Malala
Zoboi, Ibi – American Street