Literacy at Parkside

Our Vision

At Parkside, we take literacy seriously. We know it is the foundation of academic success and empowerment across the whole of a student’s life. The ability to read, write, speak, and listen with confidence opens doors to every subject, every career, and every aspect of a students’ future. We are committed to creating a culture where literacy is valued and celebrated. Our vision is for every learner to be able to access complex ideas, express themselves effectively, and participate fully in an increasingly complex and challenging world.

Our Purpose

The whole-school literacy strategy aims to:

Ensure that all students can read fluently and comprehend challenging texts across the curriculum.
Explicitly teach tier three vocabulary in line with faculty learning journeys.
Develop accurate and effective writing skills for a range of purposes and audiences.
Foster a culture of reading for pleasure to expand cultural capital and nurture a lifelong love of books.
Support all students, regardless of their starting points, to become confident readers, writers, and speakers.

Our approach to literacy encompasses both a universal offer, accessed and available to all students, and a targeted intervention programmed to support students based on their individual needs.

The Universal offer:

The library: We have a very well-resourced and welcoming library, staffed by a knowledgeable and supportive librarian. The library is open to all students at both brunch and lunch, giving students the opportunity to read or study in a calm environment, discuss book choices with peers and staff, and ask for support to choose books that will meet their interests.
Whole-school consistency: All staff are trained and supported to use shared literacy strategies, ensuring that students experience a unified approach to reading, vocabulary, and writing expectations, regardless of subject or teacher.
Explicit vocabulary instruction: Key subject-specific and academic vocabulary is explicitly taught, revisited, and applied across the curriculum, supported by shared strategies such as Frayer models and etymology/morphology work.
Reading assessments: All students have an annual literacy assessment. This enables us to monitor the progress of students’ literacy as they move through the academic journey at the school as well as develop interventions for students of concern. It also enables us to support staff to understand the literacy barriers of the students in the classroom, with appropriate CPD where necessary, and to inform parents of concerns as they arise.
Form time Literacy: DEAL (KS3), DEAR (KS4), with low stakes quizzing and because, but, so sentence structures for accountability.
The Parkside Reading Championship: This is a reading initiative for Years 7–11 that encourages and rewards engagement with literature. Each year group receives a curated list of ten books, selected to challenge reading skills and broaden understanding of the world. Students who complete all ten books earn the title of ‘Reading Champion’, along with a blazer badge and certificate.
Cold reads: In English, Y7 students have regular opportunities for ‘Quick DEAL’ time, in which they listen to their teacher read them a novel over a short, two-week period.

Targeted Interventions:

Fresh Start: A systematic synthetic phonics programme targeting Y7 students who have not yet mastered phonics in KS3, It uses the Read Write Inc. phonics approach but adapts it for age-appropriate texts, focusing on rapid catch-up in decoding, spelling, and comprehension so learners can access the wider curriculum confidently.
Lexonik: A structured literacy intervention designed to accelerate reading fluency, accuracy, spelling, and comprehension. This targets KS3 students who have mastered basic phonics, meaning they can decode simple words, but still read slowly, inaccurately, or with limited comprehension.
Buddy Reading: This pairs volunteer KS4 students with Year 7 and Year 8 readers in a supportive reading session. Older students act as positive role models, listening to and read-with their peers, offering encouragement, and discussing the text to build understanding and confidence.
Pastor Reading: This is a one-to-one, low-stakes opportunity for students to read aloud to a supportive adult and engage in encouraging conversations about reading. It is for students who have mastered phonics but need further support to build strong reading habits and practice their skills, helping them move towards a reading age closer to their chronological age.