Literacy & Reading

Literacy and Reading at St. George’s

 

  • All understand that literacy is the expression of pupils’ understanding of ideas, concepts, facts and skills.  We also understand that oracy underpins the development of reading and writing as well as supporting the strengthening of long term memory.

  • All staff are trained and have a responsibility to explicitly teach new vocabulary in their subject.

  • Bespoke CPD is offered by the Literacy Lead to departments who have been identified needing support on reading strategies and introducing new vocabulary. This includes support and training on the teaching of extended written responses across the curriculum where the Literacy Lead works collaboratively with subjects to ensure the progression and development of pupils' extended writing.

  • Oracy is improved and strengthened through the building up of verbal responses through ‘quick-fire’ questioning, with the expectation that pupils upscale their answers, leading up to a developed  and extended verbal response. ( S.H.A.P.E answer).

  • Specialists trained in the delivery of the Direct Instruction Literacy Programme teach identified cohorts of pupils who are significantly below the expected reading age for secondary school. This has been introduced to support lower ability pupils to progress with their reading fluency and comprehension and writing skills, thus contributing to closing the gap between the disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged cohorts so they can more easily access our knowledge-rich curriculum

  • St George's has a growing number of colleagues who are examination markers for the GCSE boards in order to support personal individual development of the knowledge and skills needed within a range of curriculum areas, particularly with regards to accessing the training and models of extended written responses. This is modelled in departmental CPD and supports subject curriculum development.

  • St Georges uses the Accelerated Reader programme with all of year 7 and lower ability Year 8 which establishes a baseline of reading ability and then monitors and measures progress through regular ‘Star Reading Tests’ which then assess reading ages.

  • The teacher, as the expert in the room, models the reading aloud in class in order to demonstrate accurate pronunciation and enunciation, building more fluent comprehension for a wide range of pupils

  • The library has its own full time librarian - pupils are encouraged to visit and regularly change their books; it has a rich and varied up-to-date supply of texts. All pupils in Year 7 also have a weekly library lesson with the librarian where they are guided on appropriate book choices, engage very competitively in reading competitions, and have the opportunity to read aloud on a one-one level to improve their own fluency

  • The English department has a reading for enjoyment curriculum, dedicating a lesson a week to a novel that has been chosen by the teacher. The teacher reads the novel to the class thus removing the analysis of structure and the usual assessment criteria and enabling the pupils to literally 'enjoy the story.' Unusual vocabulary and the story sequence is still discussed. This has been received extremely enthusiastically by the pupils at St. George's who look forward to these lessons every week.

  • The community pupil leadership team writes for its own 'St. George's Bugle' newspaper as part of the elective co-curricular programme, thus encouraging pupils to engage in the reading and writing of local events, book reviews, interviews and Christian values.

Literacy & Reading

 

Reading Routes at St George’s

Reading Routes are our way of supporting, guiding and celebrating reading for pleasure across school.

Students can explore six different genre-based routes — each one carefully curated to build reading confidence, stamina and enjoyment.


As they move through a route, students earn rewards and recognition for their progress, and can take part in regular reading celebration events.

What are the Reading Routes?

Each route focuses on a different genre:

  • Dystopian Literature
  • Science Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Adventure & Survival
  • Realistic Fiction
  • Classics & Literary Novels

Routes begin with accessible, high-interest books and gradually build towards more mature or classic texts.

Students can:

  • Follow a full route
  • Move between routes
  • Or read independently — all reading is recognised and celebrated


 How does it work?

  • Students log the books they’ve completed - link
  • Each route includes checkpoints with rewards and certificates
  • All reading — route or not — contributes to our reading culture

Explore the genres, discover your next great read, and choose your own reading journey.

 

Download the Reading Routes
Click below to view all Reading Routes