We have Guided Reading Groups where students spend one tutor time session per week, for 10 weeks, completing an extra reading comprehension session with one of our trained Teaching Assistants. In these sessions they will be part of a small group (no more than five students) and they will read their selected book together and discuss what is happening in the book. To further support their progress we would also recommend that you read with your child at home, ideally for at least 1 hour per week. This could include fiction and non-fiction texts, as well as news articles or other texts. Whilst specifically targeted at improving reading we also hope that these sessions will support progress in their literacy skills. After 10 weeks students will be reassessed to see if we need to continue with the additional support.  

Students have access to the IDL Literacy Software, an online programme which allows students to work at their own pace through a series of mini lessons designed to improve their spelling skills. Some students may be invited to join a group in a computer room one form time a week to access this programme with additional support from trained Teaching Assistants.

We have student mentors in Year 10 and 12 who work with our Year 7, 8 and 9 students through the online programme ‘Chatta’. The programme allows students to create storyboards and record audio, before listening back and improving their stories. They will then write these up to be put in an electronic book of short stories where they are the authors. English and Drama teachers can nominate students for this programme to support them with their speaking skills.

If a student has been identified through our baseline writing assessment in English lessons in Year 7 and 8 as needed additional support with writing they will receive an access code for the online programme ‘Pobble’ which helps students to develop their creative writing skills. Pobble has a different writing prompt every day with extra scaffolding through story starters and questions to help students write more confidently.

If a concern with handwriting has been identified then students will be given a handwriting book to complete, along with the following instructions. even if your child has not been given a handwriting book the guidance here might be helpful to ensure their writing is clear and legible.

Consistency: Choose one handwriting style. Printed, cursive writing or joined up writing are all handwriting styles. It is a choice. What matters is legibility and speed. Cursive writing, if not done right, can affect readability. It is also not always the fastest handwriting style. 
Practical: Make sure you write on lined or squared paper (you should use your purple book!). It really helps letter legibility. Work that is uneven and not sitting on a line can be difficult for the eye to scan and read. 
Suitability: Picking the perfect pen. Pens come in different shapes and styles. Most are ergonomically designed. These contours help the fingers feel comfortable when writing. Biro, fibre tip, gel or ink can make a difference to handwriting legibility. You need to find the one you like. And it doesn’t have to be the most expensive pen. 
Performance: Staying up late. Research has proven that when we are tired we write faster. And this affects handwriting legibility. If you are tired when you go to school or when you do an exam your handwriting quality will be affected. 
Encourage: Everything is possible. It takes weeks for a habit to change. Handwriting can be improved. But there will be no overnight success. You need to accept that improving your writing style is a strategic move. There are no quick fixes. Don’t give up! I’ve heard teachers tell people there is no point in teaching handwriting after the age of 9. This is totally untrue. Whatever your age, it is possible to improve handwriting. Because we are not seven years old our brains are not so adaptable. It might take longer. But it is achievable. 

If a concern with handwriting has been identified then students will be given a handwriting book to complete, along with the following instructions. even if your child has not been given a handwriting book the guidance here might be helpful to ensure their writing is clear and legible.
– Sit at a table in an appropriate position for handwriting. 
– Leave a consistently sized space of 1.5-2 centimetres between words. 
– Write capital letters and digits in a size that matches the size of any lowercase letters. 
– Write with letters that are all a similar size. 
– Lower case letters without long ascenders should be about half the height of the space between lines; upper case letters should almost touch the line above.  
– The letter ‘i’ should be dotted with a single small point, as should full stops.  
– Keep your writing lines horizontal and keeping the space between lines parallel and consistent. Write on the line and not above it. 
– Keep the downstrokes of your writing upright and parallel. 
– Make sure that descenders of one line do not touch the ascenders of the line below. 
– Decide whether or not to use joined up handwriting and be consistent in this choice. 
– Begin writing each line about a centimetre to the right of the margin. Be consistent with this distance on each line, apart from new paragraphs, which should leave a three-to-four-centimetre gap. 

We work closely with Dyslexia Sparks, a local charity, who run training sessions for teachers and Teaching Assistants to ensure the best possible provision in the classroom for our students with Dyslexia. Our three key vocabulary strategies are targeted at the barriers that dyslexic students may face in terms of phonological awareness, memory and self-esteem. All students with dyslexia have access to the IDL Literacy Software (details above in the ‘Support with Spelling’ section) and the Pobble Creative Writing Programme (details about in the ‘Support with Writing’ section). If you think your child would benefit from access to any of the other programmes mentioned here please contact the school.