Literacy  

Literacy is at the heart of all we do at Brian Clarke, and we have built a strong reading culture throughout the school. In class, our students are supported by curriculums which are underpinned by consistent literacy strategies to ensure all our students are strong writers, readers and orators.

Academic Literacy

Our students are supported in developing their literacy across all their subjects. All staff are trained in consistent universal literacy strategies, such as using the reciprocal reader model for teaching reading. All staff use our universal literacy strategies, but then go beyond this for disciplinary literacy in their subject areas. Different subjects have unique literacy demands, for example, students in History are taught to write about causes of historical events, while in English students learn how to write creatively and in Science students learn how to write about scientific experiments. Staff also prioritise teaching disciplinary vocabulary in their subject areas to support our students in accessing our ambitious curriculums. 

Library 

Our library is open every break and lunchtime for students to access. We ensure our library is well stocked with a range of fiction and non-fiction books for students to access. We also stock books relating to curriculum areas, to support our students in their independent studies. There is also a suggestions box which students can use.  

We track the reading habits of our students using our library software, to ensure all our students are reading and borrowing books. We celebrate achievements around reading at each celebration assembly. This includes achievements for Year 7 who also use Accelerated Reader to track their reading. 

Our library is incredibly popular, with over 11,000 books being borrowed by Year 7 and Year 8 in the academic year 2023-24.  

Students also have the opportunity to visit the library during their ATS lessons, or in form times from Year 9 upwards. 

Students can reserve books and browse new books which have arrived on the library dashboard: The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy (accessit.online) 

Interventions 

We use three main interventions to support students in developing their literacy skills: 

Fresh Start Phonics: a systematic synthetic phonics programme for students which teaches them the Phonics sounds, how to blend the sounds together and then how to read fluently. The programme supports students in reading both accurately and quickly, to support their transition to secondary school. This is delivered in small groups. 

Lexia Power-Up: This is a computer based programme which supports students’ literacy development in one of the three broad areas: word study; grammar and comprehension. Students are tested when they begin the programme and placed in the appropriate level for them. They then independently work through the modules.  

Reading Buddies: This is a reading programme bespoke to our school, where we ask students in Year 9 and above to read with students in Year 7 to support their comprehension and word recognition. For the programme we choose age-appropriate books which students can work on with their ‘Reading Buddy’. 

Summer Reading Projects 

Each summer we set a summer reading project for students to complete in KS3.  

Transition: Year 6 to Year 7 (The Odyssey) 

This is our first reading project as the students join us at Brian Clarke. It is their first opportunity to complete a community reading project. Tutors collect the completed booklet on the first day in September, and it is our first chance to celebrate our students’ reading achievements. 

Year 8 and Year 9 (Summer Reading Challenge) 

For the current Year 7 and Year 8, who will be moving into Year 8 and Year 9 respectively, we set a Summer Reading Challenge based on a fiction book of the student’s choosing. The project also focuses on preparing students for the first half term of their English curriculum and to begin back with us in September. 

The Brian Clarke Academy Literacy Team 

Miss E Bezer 
Assistant Headteacher for Achievement for All 

Mrs J Carey 
Library Manager 

Mrs R Dickinson 
Director of English