Airedale Academy Reading Curriculum
In Years 7 & 8, students are allocated one hour of reading on a weekly basis. This reading lesson is in addition to and separate from students’ English lessons. The aim of the reading curriculum is to scaffold and improve our students’ active reading skills to aid their academic success, to increase their confidence in reading and to offer our students the opportunity to read for pleasure.
As a school, we have invested in a range of award-winning class texts for our students to enjoy as a group read. The texts are updated annually in response to student feedback and offer our students a wide range of genres within fiction.
To guide the class reading, we have embedded a strategic curriculum based on the principles of reciprocal reading. In each class, we actively read using the four principles of Predict, Clarify, Question, Summarise. The strategies are used to scaffold and support pupils’ active reading skills and enable them to become confident and proficient readers who can access challenging texts.
Airedale Academy is committed to investing in the Bookbuzz programme which allows every child to select and keep a book of their own. This book can be used for independent reading for pleasure within reading lessons.
In order to foster word consciousness and support our readers when they approach new vocabulary, students will explore root words within this lesson.
Equally, reading lessons are also used to recap Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar rules; written accuracy is important in all subjects.
Form Time Reading
Below you will find details of the books our students will be reading in form time.
We have also included some recommendations for reading outside of school!
Read to Succeed
Castleford Tigers Foundation launch their ‘Read to Succeed’ programme at Airedale Academy.
In March 2022, we officially launched our partnership with the Castleford Tigers Foundation ‘Read to Succeed’ Programme.
‘Read to Succeed’ is a scheme that was created by the foundation to support our local schools. The programme involves players leading assemblies, speaking to students and visiting lessons to listen to students as they read.
At Airedale Academy, Castleford Tigers stars Niall Evalds, Jack Sadler, Greg Eden and George Lawler helped to kick off the scheme by joining Mrs Phelan and Miss Wilson in the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 Reading assemblies which formed part of Airedale Academy’s World Book Day celebrations. In the assemblies, players spoke to students about how reading is important for the wider responsibilities involved in sports professionalism. Aside from this, the players also acknowledged how important it is for young people to meet positive role models and were keen to support students in lessons too. Following the launch, a range of players visited the Academy and worked with several groups of students in their bespoke reading lessons.
The excitement surrounding the players’ visits was certainly contagious and students were thrilled when they had the chance to meet players and have their support within lessons.
A huge thank you goes out to the Castleford Tigers Foundation and players who took the time from their busy schedule to support our young people; it really does make a difference!
Read to Succeed & Quarto Publishing
In the summer term of 2022, we were once again visited by Castleford Tigers’ players to update the collection of books in our Reading Room. As part of the ‘Read to Succeed’ programme, run by the Castleford Tigers Foundation, we were selected to receive a variety of brand new books from the publishing company Quarto.Quarto Publishing is a well-renowned publisher who have picked up various awards including two Waterstones Children’s Book Prizes in recent years. On the day, Castleford Tigers’ stars Derrell Olpherts and Liam Watts met with students and talked about how important it is to give back to the local community and how reading is a skill which is needed for life beyond the classroom.
Brave and ambitious, our students spoke to the media team to thank Castleford Tigers Foundation and Quarto Publishing for the donation.
As always, it was an absolute privilege to meet the players and their media team and we feel honoured to have been selected to receive this gift from Quarto Publishing.
Thank you to Castleford Tigers and Quarto; we are incredibly grateful for the partnership and the selection of books for our students to enjoy.
