Supporting Our Emerging Readers

At Excelsior Academy we provide reading interventions for any students who are not yet reading at a level in line with their chronological age. 

Pupils complete the GL assessment NGRT reading test twice per year to enable staff to pinpoint the areas of reading that would benefit from support and to monitor progress in reading. 

We have researched and piloted our reading intervention approaches in the secondary phase and use Fresh Start Phonics, That Reading Thing and Reading Plus. Our SEND team supports small groups of pupils with specialist programmes where appropriate. In addition, teachers use a range of reading support strategies as part of their every day practice.

Pupils in Years 7 and 8 who have a reading age of below 9 years 6 months, initially complete our 10 week phonics programme, Fresh Start. This is delivered by phonics trained specialists and works on the principle of securing letter sounds and blending of words in order to decode. 

Once pupils have completed the 10 weeks programme, their reading progress is tracked rigorously and they will complete a further phonics programme or move onto our Reading Plus programme to support the development of reading fluency. 

In addition, some pupils receive additional phonics support through phonics linked starters in their lessons and Fresh Start phonics during Be Ready sessions. 

For emerging  readers in Years 9, 10 and 11 we deliver  ‘That Reading Thing’. This is a phonics-based approach specifically designed for older readers. At Excelsior we understand that key staff - pupil relationships are at the heart of reading progress, therefore this intervention is delivered one to one with a fully-trained Literacy Support Assistant.