Reading Intent

Wyvern Academy is passionate about encouraging our students to have a love of reading and embedding a culture of excellence in all that we do. We believe that a love of reading not only leads to a love of lifelong learning and a wealth of cultural experiences, but also as the reading curriculum develops, so does our student’s fluency, confidence, and enjoyment in reading.

We believe that every student has the right to a high-quality education, no matter their starting point and/or education and social needs. We value reading as an enriching activity, which can make a profound difference to our students’ lives.

At Key Stage 3, students take part in the ‘Reading Wise’ programme to help develop and strengthen their literacy skills. The vocabulary module supports students in building fluency and extending their vocabulary, while the comprehension module helps students gain greater confidence in understanding what they read. The decoding module supports early readers in developing fluency, and students requiring more targeted support benefit from the SIP phonics-based approach to reading development.

Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 are encouraged to read for pleasure, while students in Years 10 and 11 engage in planned, purposeful reading within lessons to deepen their understanding of more challenging academic texts.

Our curriculum is ambitious for all learners, with carefully selected challenging texts embedded throughout. This includes the study of Lord of the Flies in Year 8 and Noughts & Crosses in Year 9. We are proud to include texts written by authors from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, ensuring students experience diverse voices and perspectives throughout their learning.