Reading

Reading is a fundamental part of life at Trinity Academy Cathedral. Students are given the opportunity to read in many areas of their school life, and we ensure that all students leave us with the critical reading skills they will need for successful, happy lives.

Reading in lessons

Students are taught new content in their lessons using frequent exposure to high quality texts in all their academic subjects. They are taught to read, speak and write using academic vocabulary – students regularly ‘read like’ historians, biologists and literary scholars.

Reading for pleasure and the library

Students can visit the library every day before and after school, and at break and lunch times. We have a well stocked library with lots of exciting texts, and a full-time librarian to help advise and support students in finding the best reading material. The library is a relaxing, quiet space where students can read in peace.

 

 

 

 

 

Students take part in our reading challenges – Y7 Odyssey and Y8-9 Graduation. We also have a challenging reading list for students in Y10 and Y11. In order to launch our Odyssey program with Y7 in 2021 we gifted a copy of an Odyssey book to every Y7 student at Summer School, and students posted book reviews back to us on pre-paid postcards. Over the course of the year, students track their reading in personal reading journals.

Special events and projects

We have a number of special events related to reading over the course of the school year, including regular author visits and opportunities to celebrate students who are reading regularly. Students who are reading Odyssey and Graduation books can win a reading badge for their blazer, and get recognition and other rewards in assemblies.

We have a writer in residence as part of the First Story project in 2021-22 – Andy ‘Testament’ Brooks is working with students every week, and this will culminate in a professionally designed and printed anthology of student writing.

 

Be Informed

Our dining room is a place where students can stay up to date with current affairs and relevant cultural ideas and events – every week we provide new reading material from newspapers and other important sources which students can read on their break times and discuss with their friends or with staff.

 

Reading Support

We want to ensure that no child ever leaves Cathedral without the critical reading skills they need to navigate the wider world. Any student who is struggling with literacy is given targeted support. Sometimes this is through small group interventions and encouragement from the library, sometimes through a range of one-to-one reading intervention sessions with staff trained in synthetic phonics. We work closely with external partners, such as GL Assessment and the New Group Reading Test, and Thinking Reading (an industry leading reading program), in order to ensure that our students get the absolute best experience possible.

Ofsted Outstanding Provider
Trinity Scholars

Trinity Scholar students benefit from an additional investment of up to £6000

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