Reading

Improving literacy at Brixham College

As we are aware, many of our students have difficulty with reading and accessing the curriculum, resulting from low levels of literacy and reading skills. This is a significant gap and a whole school approach to reading and the development of literacy and vocabulary will be a key focus moving forward. It is essential that our students read widely and often, with fluency and comprehension appropriate to their age.

By having a whole school emphasis on reading, we will hopefully raise the importance of this skill in school and support students in developing their academic literacy and vocabulary. The wider impact will be the development of this in subjects and the development of academic literacy.

Guided Reading

Guided reading is an approach at Years 7 – 9 which is there to support students with the development of literacy. By reading together and having an opportunity to focus on literacy and vocabulary this will impact on progress in all subjects.

  • Students will have a guided reading session each day.
  • Guided reading will be lead by the Tutor in an afternoon
  • This will be a 25 minute session
  • Students will all be reading the same book in class
  • Students will read a selection of books across the year which will be Modern, Pre 1914 and World Seminals

Recommended Reading - Year 7

Holes, Louis Sachar

The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

The Jungle Book, Ridyard Kipling

Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne

Alone on a Wide Wide Sea, Michael Morpurgo

Tom's Midnight Garden

Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah

The Tulip Touch, Anne Fine

Refugee Boy, Benjamin Zephaniah

Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan

Recommended Reading - Year 8

I am Malala, Malala Yousafzai

Private Peaceful, Michael Morpurgo

The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

Stone Cold, Robert Swindells

Witch Child, Celia Rees

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor

The Wind Singer, William Nicholson

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Coram Boy, Jamila Gavin

The Outsiders, S E Hinton

Ruby in the Smoke, Phillip Pullman

Recommended Reading - Year 9

Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier

Noughts and Crosses, Malorie Blackman.

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

Anita and Me, Meera Syal

The Woman in Black, Susan Hill

Dracula, Bram Stoker

The Maze Runner, James Dashner

Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie

A Kestrel for a Knave, Barry Hines

Rationale for including a specific focus on reading in the curriculum:

  • Ensure that all of our students are reading regularly
  • Reading develops writing skills
  • Reading develop vocabulary
  • Reading develops a students ability to retain information and comprehend text
  • Reading a wide variety of challenging texts develops students cultural capital
  • Guided reading develops students stamina in reading
  • Guided reading enables students to read challenging texts at pace for the next stage of education
  • Guided reading enables students to make sense of what they have read

What do our Students think of Guided Reading? TBC Link to Student Voice


Support with Reading

In Years 7 and 8 readers who struggle to decode use a phonics package called Lexia with their class teacher. Alongside this, Students are extracted in small groups in to Learning Support and spend more time on developing their phonics and decoding using Lexia.

Click Here for LEXIA


Support with Reading at home

We understand it can be a challenge for Students to find the right book and have a love for reading which is why we have provided a Reading List for all abilities to extend their search and to read beyond the classroom. Please click on the icons below to access the reading lists.