Collective Reading

• For all students in Years 7 - 10 they will attend their Collective Reading group and will be read to by their Form Tutor; 

• Students follow the story along in their own copy of the novel- using a bookmark to guide them should they need to;

• At the beginning of each novel the students will watch a launch video for it created by our own staff members who have read the novel;

• At the end of reading a novel the students have the opportunity to discuss their views and ideas relating to questions about the novel’s themes, events and characters - building their oracy skills.

The Form Tutor will have the ability to model fluent, expert reading which is proven to develop the reading skills of our students. It can help to:

• build our students’ fluency skills including proper phrasing and expression;

• improve students’ sight word recognition of unfamiliar vocabulary;

• build our students’ understanding of the story;

• allows students to hear the tone and pace of a skilful reader;

• show that reading is for everybody!

• Our novels are interesting, award-winning, modern and diverse reads which are written by a range of authors and present a variety of viewpoints;

• All of our novels explore issues relevant to our students and the 21st century building their understanding of the world we live in;

• The novels help educate and challenge our students’ views;

• Reading regularly helps to build reading resilience in our learners;

• Our novels cover a range of genres; there is something for everyone;

• The stories develop our students’ skills of compassion and empathy.

A 'for the students, driven by the students' approach to Collective Reading time. For some of our students being read aloud to by a member of staff will not benefit them as their fluency and comprehension skills are above their actual age (as identified in the NGRT tests) already. Instead, being given the opportunity to explore novels which they may not have chosen and that still build their cultural capital is more important to their reading development.

Baysgarth's 'Collective Reading Stars' is a group where the students read in silence and independently for the duration of the Collective Reading time. They have their own micro library of 30 different titles (selected by the school) which they read and rotate over the course of the academic year. Each student has a 'book buddy' who reads the same novel as them at the same time so that at the end of reading it they can discuss their views and ideas relating to the issues explored. The students are responsible for completing the page tracker and are given a menu of flipped learning activities to complete after finishing their novels.

Being part of the Collective Reading Stars group is a privilege and an opportunity for our learners to develop their independance skills. Our students need to rank as having a significantly above average SAS score and must apply to be a part of the group, demonstrating their love of reading and their interest in exploring a range of diverse and modern novels.

• Allocate time for them to read for pleasure at home- removing other distractions;

• Use your local library to borrow books which will engage your child- it’s free to sign up;

• Encourage your child to browse different books to keep up their interest in reading;

• Use technology to support reading if possible (such as the Borrowbox app);

• Ask your child questions about the book they are reading in Collective Reading;

• Share your own interests in reading with your child so they can see you are a reading role model too;

• Check out the resources on the 'How can I support and encourage reading at home' page to help with choosing books which will interest your child.