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.

At Parkside we know that handwriting remains an essential skill in secondary education.

Clear, fluent handwriting supports learning by improving memory, understanding, and organisation of ideas.

Handwriting is a fine motor skill that typically becomes automated during primary years (ages 7–11), once motor patterns are established, they require little conscious effort, making significant changes difficult without intensive retraining. Neuroplasticity persists into adolescence, but motor habits become deeply embedded, established neural patterns for letter formation make changes harder without structured intervention. Handwriting difficulties in KS3 and KS4 often link to underlying SEND (e.g., dysgraphia, dyspraxia) and intervention focus shifts from perfecting handwriting to providing alternative recording methods (typing, voice-to-text) and reasonable adjustments, reducing barriers and supporting inclusion.

When students can write comfortably and legibly, with automaticity, they are better able to focus on the content of their work rather than the physical effort of writing. When handwriting is not automated, it means cognitive load is not focussed on the classroom learning.

It is also an essential skill for life outside of school and therefore, as a school, we ensure that students who need help with their handwriting are are supported to improve their handwriting.

How we Support Students with their Handwriting:

At Parkside we offer a targeted handwriting intervention to support students whose handwriting is unclear, slow, or difficult to read. The programme is designed to improve legibility, fluency, and writing stamina, with the long‑term aim of developing automaticity so that students can focus on the content of their work rather than the mechanics of writing.

All teachers actively encourage high standards of presentation in books and high standards of handwriting. This is a core part of our universal offer. Students’ standards of presentation and handwriting is monitored through teacher’s regular feedback based on their marking (please see our marking and feedback policy).

Where students handwriting is a concern, teachers and support staff can use the Parkside Portal to raise a handwriting concern. These concerns are flagged and tracked by the literacy and SEND teams.

Through intervention, based on the portal referrals, students are taught to use a clear, printed handwriting style rather than cursive, joined‑up writing. Explicit instruction is provided in correct pencil grip, posture, and paper positioning, as these foundational skills are essential for sustainable improvement. Teaching is delivered through a structured internal programme, ensuring consistency and a shared approach across staff.

The programme builds on the success of previous handwriting provision delivered through the SEND team, where students demonstrated clear improvements in handwriting legibility. In response to increased need, the intervention has been expanded to allow more students to access targeted support. Where appropriate, additional one‑to‑one work is provided to develop fine motor skills to further support handwriting progress.

Handwriting and Exam Access Arrangements:

Our SEND and literacy teams, where necessary, support students with exam access arrangements.

Identifying handwriting difficulties early in secondary school is crucial because it allows sufficient time to gather evidence and implement support before formal assessments.

Under JCQ regulations, access arrangements such as the use of a laptop or a scribe must be based on a history of need and normal way of working, not just a last-minute decision.

Early identification ensures pupils receive consistent support in class, builds familiarity with assistive tools, and provides the documented evidence required to meet JCQ compliance for exam accommodations.