Reading Provision

At Castle View Enterprise Academy, we believe that reading is a fundamental skill that is essential for academic success and personal growth. As such, we are committed to creating a culture of reading that fosters a lifelong love for reading among our students. We believe that reading helps to:

• Develop critical thinking skills
• Enhance vocabulary and communication skills
• Build empathy and understanding of different cultures and perspectives
• Improve academic performance in all subjects

Therefore, we commit to the following principles:

• Supporting Reading: We will support reading by providing guidance and resources for students who may struggle with reading or have special needs. We will also work with parents and caregivers to encourage reading at home.
• Reading in the Curriculum: We will ensure reading builds fundamental reading skills in the class room such as reading comprehension, critical analysis, and vocabulary development to empower students to engage deeply with texts. The aim of this is to enhance academic achievement as we recognise the role of reading in unlocking knowledge across disciplines, from history to science, and promoting academic success.
• Celebrating Reading: We will celebrate reading by recognising and rewarding students who demonstrate a love for reading. We will also celebrate reading as a community through events such as World Book Day, World Poetry Day and other literary celebrations. We will encourage reading by providing access to a wide range of reading materials, including books, access to non-fiction texts and online resources. We will promote reading through various activities such as book clubs, reading competitions, and author visits.

Our whole school approach for reading for pleasure encompasses all curriculum areas, all subjects have a 'Reading beyond the curriculum' provision in place to ensure that a love of reading is promoted in all classrooms by all subject teachers. There are dedicated curriculum shelves in the library where fiction and non-fiction books have been collected to further inspire students to engage with reading within the subjects they love.

We ensure every student has access to our virtual e-library and the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) located at the centre of the school, offering a diverse collection of fiction and non-fiction texts. Our e-library provides resources in both e-book and audiobook formats, which can be downloaded onto any device, enabling students to access them anytime and from anywhere!

The LRC is open afterschool every day for students to browse books and read, complete homework or take part in the many clubs on offer: Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons, The Writer's Club, graphic novel and manga club and games night. As the LRC is a classroom space during the school day meaning students cannot use the space at break times or lunchtimes, this does not stop students from accessing books, every day the Pop-Up library visits the restaurant for students to check out and return books at lunch time and the library goes 'on tour' every week visiting classrooms in different subject areas to support any reading initiatives and competitions.

The Reading Team

At Castle View Enterprise Academy, we have a whole Academy approach to reading with all staff supporting the delivery of reading within curriculum areas and through the support system (SEND support staff)

We have a designated reading team who co-ordinate and monitor the delivery of careers.

• Mr G Palmer-Bell - whole school literacy coordinator and reading lead
• Mr C Turnbull - Catch-Up reading intervention coordinator
• Miss P Blomfield - librarian and Pets as Therapy coordinator
• Mrs A Payne - senior leader supporting whole school literacy and the SEND team

Measuring the impact of reading

Reading strategies are delivered within curriculum areas, the tutor programme, reading intervention provisions and a range of enrichment opportunities and activities.

Our monitoring and evaluation strategies encompass all aspects of delivery and are used to inform the future development of reading. Monitoring activities used to ensure that reading strategies are being implemented as planned include:

• Learning walks
• Questionnaires - students, staff, parents and carers, external partners
• Focus groups - students and staff
• Work scrutiny
• Curriculum plans

Evaluation activities are used to measure the impact of reading and inform future planning. Evaluation activities include:

• Data analysis of reading intervention provisions
• Learning walks
• Questionnaires - students, staff, parents and carers, external partners
• Focus groups - students, staff, Careers Champions (students and staff)
• Student evaluations of personal guidance interviews
• Termly reports to the Governing Body

The Academy's progress towards achieving the One Education Gold Reading Award is evaluated on a termly basis by the reading team.