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Brentwood School

Learning For Life

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Reading

Vision for Reading

At our school, we value reading as a critical skill and experience for all learners, recognising the diverse abilities and needs of our students. Our approach is designed to ensure that every student develops their reading skills in an engaging, supportive, and individualised environment as they journey through school and into adulthood.

Due to the diverse needs of students, we implement a range of strategies to support students to develop their reading in KS3, KS4 and Sixth Form. Staff have extensive training to enable them to support students and deliver a consistent and high quality offer. Strategies are selected according to the need and age of individual students. Aspects of the Reading Strategy are incorporated into KS3,4 and Sixth Form.

 

Daily Reading Sessions

Students participate in daily reading sessions adapted to their individual abilities and communication needs. Each session follows a clear and consistent routine:

  1. Routine Structure:
    • Use of a visual or auditory cue (e.g., a reading symbol) to indicate the start of the session.
    • Activities include sharing a book, exploring a book and accessing fiction and non fiction magazines, completing a reading task or matching activity, engaging with Reading Eggs and  finishing with choice time. 
  2. Whole-Class Reading:
    • A shared text is displayed for the whole class.
    • Students capable of reading are encouraged to take turns reading small sections or pages.
  3. Group and Individual Reading:
    • Small groups are read to by staff.
    • Students can choose books to read one-to-one with staff.
    • Some students read independently, while others listen to staff read, responding through gestures, AAC devices, or simple answers using blank level questioning.
  4. Engagement and Support:
    • Students are encouraged to turn pages independently, identify objects in pictures, and mimic vocabulary modelled by staff.
    • Reading activities are broken into manageable parts to avoid overwhelming students.

Reading is integrated across the curriculum and embedded throughout the school day.

 

Pathways to Reading

To address the varied abilities of our students, we have established three developmental reading pathways:

Pathway 1: Prerequisite

For students with profound, multiple, or severe learning difficulties, the focus is on foundational skills:

  • Developing awareness and interaction with others.
  • Building attention spans and communication through eye contact, tracking, and engagement with rhyme and rhythm.

Pathway 2: Pre-Phase Phonics

Students engage with books by responding to pictures and characters and developing preferences. Activities include:

  • Attention Autism sessions.
  • Introduction to general sounds, instrumental sounds, and rhyme.
  • Use of symbols to support non-verbal communication.

Pathway 3: Synthetic Phonics

For students ready for structured phonics instruction, we follow the Read Write Inc program:

  • Daily 45-minute sessions focused on letters, sounds, reading, and writing skills.
  • Regular assessments ensure progression through appropriate groups.
  • Graduates transition to the Read Write Inc Comprehension program to enhance fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.

 

Supporting Communication Needs

Many students experience communication challenges, whether verbal or nonverbal.  We work closely with our team of Speech and Language Therapists to utilise communication strategies throughout the school day, and recognise the importance of supporting students to read through use of symbols, communication devices and AAC. To support their engagement:

  • Staff encourage alternative modes of communication, including gestures, pictures, symbols and AAC devices.
  • Modelling techniques to support students to grasp language structure and improve reading comprehension.

 

Attention Autism

Attention Autism is a teaching approach designed to engage and motivate learners with autism and complex needs through structured, visually engaging activities. We utilize this approach to effectively support the development of foundational pre-reading skills by focusing on shared attention, communication, and visual learning—key areas which are often challenging for these learners.

The first stage captures attention with sensory-rich, motivating experiences, helping students develop sustained focus, a crucial skill for reading. The predictable structure reduces anxiety, fostering a positive learning environment.

Subsequent stages guide students to observe, imitate, and complete sequential tasks, skills directly transferable to pre-reading activities like recognizing patterns and following story sequences. The emphasis on turn-taking and communication enhances receptive and expressive language, vital for understanding written text.

By leveraging students’ strengths in visual and hands-on learning, Attention Autism ensures pre-reading skills are taught in an accessible and meaningful way, building confidence and paving the way for literacy development.

 

Enrichment Activities

To complement daily reading sessions, students participate in:

  • Reading Eggs: Students access the Reading Eggs program, completing tailored activities independently while staff monitor progress and address misconceptions.
  • Sensory Stories: Engaging with props and communication boards to interact with story elements.
  • Sequencing Activities: Re-telling familiar stories through picture sequencing with staff support.
  • Phonics Games: Interactive activities on the whiteboard and hands-on tasks like matching letters to words and forming CVC words.
  • Story Sacks and Online Stories: Students engage with tactile props or listen to stories accompanied by music.

Encouraging Motivation and Independence

  1. Interests:
    • Students’ interests are incorporated into reading materials to increase engagement (e.g., animal-themed stories for animal enthusiasts).
    • Students are offered choices in books to foster ownership of their learning.
  2. Positive Reinforcement:
    • Praise and motivators (e.g., fidget tools, sensory objects) are used to build confidence and maintain focus.
    • Students are rewarded with 5-10 minutes of choice time after sessions.

 

Sixth Form

Students in Sixth Form develop their reading skills through functional activities throughout the curriculum. The purpose of functional reading for our students is to develop knowledge and skills that will prepare them for their future lives, to enable them to gain as much independence as possible. We have endeavoured to ensure that all students have the opportunity to engage in reading opportunities which can be broken down into smaller steps of learning that are meaningful and functional to their individual needs. There may be a small number of more able students who show a potential to develop formal reading skills, therefore these students take part in Phonics intervention groups every afternoon. Initially students take part in a Read Write Inc assessment where teachers assess whether phonics is deemed appropriate for that student. The students who do not take part in Read Write Inc interventions are encouraged to explore their love of reading through sensory stories and exploring familiar books with staff support.

 

Recording Progress

Staff maintain detailed records of student progress through the Read Write Inc programme, within the B level framework and in reading diaries. These records enable class teachers to:

  • Identify areas for improvement.
  • Address challenges and adapt strategies as needed.
  • Provide timely approaches to work through reading programmes.

 

Conclusion

By combining structured routines, flexible approaches, and a focus on individual needs, our reading strategy ensures that every student can experience success and enjoyment in their reading journey.

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