Celebrating a World of Books at Lord Wilson

At Lord Wilson, we are dedicated to supporting boys with social, emotional, and mental health needs. We believe that cultivating a love of reading is crucial for their development. Reading unlocks knowledge, empowers them to express themselves, and strengthens their emotional well-being.

Assessing Needs: Personalised Pathways to Success

We utilise the Renaissance Reading Test to comprehensively assess each student’s reading skills, highlighting areas of strength and weakness in comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency.

For students scoring below 69 on the Renaissance Reading Test, we delve deeper with the Fresh Start program providing a targeted approach for students needing additional support in phonics. This highly structured program focuses on mastering foundational skills like sound recognition, blending, and decoding, building the necessary confidence and tools to tackle more complex texts.

Engaging Environments: Where Learning Thrives

We create stimulating environments both inside and outside the classroom to nurture a love of reading. Our school is stocked with a diverse and engaging selection of books catering to various interests and reading levels. Teachers employ interactive methods, incorporating technology when appropriate, to spark curiosity and foster a love of storytelling.

Developing Skilled and Enthusiastic Readers

Spelling, punctuation and grammar lessons focus on both technical accuracy and fostering a love of language. We teach students specific writing skills like sentence structure, punctuation, and paragraphing to enhance their ability to craft well-structured and engaging writing. Reading lessons, delivered through a blended approach of online and teacher-led instruction, prioritise fluency and vocabulary development.

Equipping Students for Success: A Progressive Reading Strategy

We have developed a reading strategy progression grid to support students in becoming strategic and knowledgeable readers. This framework provides a structured approach, allowing them to:

  1. Monitor understanding by identifying the focus of each paragraph/section.
  2. Summarise key points by answering who, what, where, when questions.
  3. Clarify the purpose by analysing the mode, field, function, and tenor of the text.
  4. Identify key vocabulary that holds the most meaning and information.
  5. Infer the deeper meaning and implications of the text.
  6. Predict what might happen next based on their understanding.
  7. Connect the text to social, historical, and cultural knowledge, fostering deeper comprehension.

By providing a comprehensive framework of assessment, personalised interventions, and engaging environments, we empower our students to unlock their literacy potential and build a strong foundation for success. At Lord Wilson, we believe that every child deserves to experience the joy and transformative power of reading, and we strive to cultivate a lifelong love of literature in all our students, one chapter at a time.

Building a Culture of Reading

Cultivating a whole-school love of reading requires more than just resources and instruction. We encourage our staff to be enthusiastic reading role models, demonstrating the joy of getting lost in a good book. We celebrate reading achievements, big and small, fostering a sense of accomplishment and inspiring continued engagement.

Whole School Reading for Enrichment: Celebrating World Book Day

Each year, we celebrate World Book Day as a school community. For example, last year we invited our children to participate in a range of engaging activities:

  • Book Selection: They will have the opportunity to select a book that sparks their interest, either one they already love or one they’re eager to explore.
  • Door Design: Tutor bases will be transformed into creative canvases, with students collaborating to design a door that captures the essence of their chosen book’s cover. To add a touch of friendly competition, the most imaginative and captivating door design will be selected, with exciting prizes awarded to the winning team!
  • Character Dress-Up: To bring their literary worlds to life, students will have the chance to dress up as a beloved character from their selected book.
  • Lord Wilson’s presents ‘Who Has Done It?’: Each class will participate in age-appropriate book-themed activities, such as quizzes, puzzles, and creating their own stories, in order to discover who killed Humpty Dumpty.
  • Enjoy a World Book Day Theme Menu: To add to the fun, our lunch team will be offering a special World Book Day themed menu, featuring items inspired by popular children’s books.