Literacy and Library

Teachers understand the value in teaching students how to read, write and communicate effectively.  Each curriculum area explicitly teaches subject-specific vocabulary, reading comprehension and opportunities for extended writing, ensuring students can confidently communicate as experts within each discipline.

We recognise that excellent literacy skills improve not only academic outcomes, but also wellbeing, confidence, and future opportunities. Through carefully planned literacy instruction, students are supported to:

• Develop reading fluency and comprehension.
• Expand their vocabulary.
• Improve confidence in speaking and writing.
• Engage critically with a range of texts.
• Build cultural capital and wider world knowledge.

Reading Aloud is one of our literacy strategies. It is an integral part of lessons and students are keen to participate. Readers who cannot read automatically need practice and, therefore, all teachers consider opportunities for reading aloud when planning.

Oracy
Structured talk routines (Turn and Talk, Think Pair Share, debate, cold calling) ensure students practice academic language verbally before writing. In year 7, students are taught structured talk roles as part of the tutor programme once a week. This helps students understand the importance of how talk tasks can help build their confidence and understanding of new subject knowledge.

Structured Writing
Extended and subject-specific writing is scaffolded through sentence starters, writing frames, modelling, and mark scheme alignment. Scaffolds are gradually removed to build independence by KS4.

Literacy Accuracy- SPaG
Spelling, punctuation and grammar and technical terminology and corrected consistently across departments. Feedback systems vary by subject but maintain the same expectation of literacy accuracy.

Reading and Literacy Support

To ensure every student receives the support they need, students complete regular reading assessments which help staff monitor progress and identify targeted interventions where appropriate.

Guided Reading – Tutor Programme

At Mayfield, we have created a tutor programme to support our students reading. The school has invested in class sets of fantastic novels for year 7, 8 and 9, who are taking part in whole class guided reading called (Robust Reading) this take place once a week during their 30min tutor period. The tutor reads the novel aloud to the students, who follow along with their own copy of the text.

Additionally, the school has also invested in Sparx Reader, an online platform that allows students to select and access 1000’s of books. Once a week, during tutor period students across year 7,8 and 9 access Sparx Reader for 30min. This is monitored and celebrated by tutors and Heads of year. Students are rewarded weekly with praise points and during whole school assembly.

Group Reading Test (NGRT)

When planning literacy interventions, we focus on providing targeted support for our students based upon their New Group Reading Tests (NGRT). All year 7 to 10 students complete the NGRT and the results from this test help to identify what support our students need. The NGRT is a fully adaptive reading assessment, offering a personalised experience for each student, ensuring it’s accessible for those who are struggling and challenging for those who need to be stretched. There is no more crucial skill for success in any subject than reading, so being able to accurately assess and monitor this is essential. The NGRT is proven to deliver a reliable assessment of reading ability, set against a national average level. The data from the NGRT helps to quickly identify gaps in knowledge, track progress and improvements in reading age. Students and parents are informed of the NGRT assessment outcomes so that they can monitor and celebrate their reading success.

At Mayfield one of our interventions is the Fresh Start programme. This is an extension of the Read Write Inc programme used by some primary schools. Fresh Start is a systematic, synthetic phonics programme for struggling readers. It is used for those who are identified as needing phonics support. Pupils are taught at their challenge point, so they learn to read accurately and fluently. Students are placed into a small group or 1:1 intervention. SEND is taken into account, or those who might take longer, need extra time for processing, less distractions, developing their English or just may benefit from smaller incremental steps carefully grouped for intervention. 

All students, who are in phonics interventions, are assessed half termly to ensure they are always being taught at their individual challenge points and making progress. These students will also complete two NGRT assessments throughout the academic year to ensure that we are closely monitors and their progress and the correct intervention is in pace.

In addition to the Fresh Start programme, we utilise bespoke vocabulary, reading fluency and comprehension interventions that are aligned to curriculum content to help support the specific needs of our students.

At Oasis Mayfield, we believe that developing a strong vocabulary is key to helping every student succeed in reading, writing, and across all subjects. As part of our literacy strategy, we explicitly teach vocabulary so that students can confidently understand and use the language of learning.

We focus on two main types of vocabulary:

• Tier 2 vocabulary – words that are used across many subjects, such as analyse, compare, and significant. These help students explain their thinking and understand exam questions.
• Tier 3 vocabulary – subject-specific words such as photosynthesis (science), metaphor (English), or economy (geography). These are essential for success in individual subjects.

How we support students

We teach vocabulary in a clear and structured way by:

• Explaining new words and modelling how to use them in context.
• Choral repetition of new words to teach correct oral pronunciation.
• Displaying key curriculum vocabulary in classrooms, so students can regularly see and use important terms.
• Using strategies from our phonics interventions to break down and support the reading and understanding of new vocabulary, ensuring accessibility for all students.
• Breaking down words into roots, prefixes, and suffixes to support understanding.
• Revisiting key vocabulary regularly to help it stick in long-term memory.
• Encouraging students to use new words in speaking and writing.

Targeted support and intervention

To ensure all students can access the curriculum, we provide targeted interventions for those who need additional support. This includes:

• Pre-teaching key curriculum vocabulary, so students are familiar with important words before they encounter them in lessons.
• Small group or one-to-one support to reinforce understanding.
• Additional opportunities to practise and revisit vocabulary.

By building a strong vocabulary, we are helping students to become confident learners who can understand challenging material, express their ideas clearly, and achieve their full potential.

Library – Dive into Reading

Our beautiful, ocean-themed Library is a calm, inspiring space designed for both focus and imagination. Located at the top of the main staircase overlooking the Agora, the Library is at the heart of academy life and provides students with a welcoming environment to read, study, socialise and explore new ideas.

We currently have over 3,500 fiction and non-fiction books available for borrowing, covering every genre imaginable — from dystopian thrillers and romance to horror, fantasy, classics and contemporary young adult fiction.

The library provides space for:

• Quiet reading
• Independent study and homework
• Group activities
• Games and enrichment activities

During the summer term, students can also enjoy reading and studying on the outdoor balcony area.

Our Library is a space where students can relax, discover new interests and develop a lifelong love of reading.

Set aside 20 minutes each day to sit with your child in a quiet space with no distractions and listen to them read.

Allow your child to choose books that interest them. Make sure the book is not too difficult, as easier texts help build confidence, fluency and enjoyment.

Be positive and celebrate every achievement, no matter how small. Praise helps to build confidence and motivation.

Reading takes practice. Give your child time and encouragement as they develop their skills.

If your child makes a mistake, allow time for self-correction. Sometimes it is better to tell them an unfamiliar word rather than stopping the flow and enjoyment of the story.

Aim to listen to your child read at least 3–5 times each week. Little and often makes a big difference.

Discuss what your child has read. Ask questions such as:

• Who are the main characters?
• What has happened so far?
• What do you think will happen next?
• What was your favourite part?

Reading does not only mean books. Encourage your child to read magazines, newspapers, comics, graphic novels, recipes, and online articles.

Share reading materials connected to hobbies or interests, such as sports articles, recipes, TV guides, or instructions for activities.

Regular visits to your local library can help your child discover exciting new books and develop a lifelong love of reading.