Read, Write, Inc- Fresh Start at Corley Academy

At Corley Academy, we are passionate about supporting students in their aspirations to become confident and fluent readers. We are committed to the research-informed teaching of systematic synthetic phonics and have selected to engage with the highly successful Read, Write, Inc Fresh Start programme devised by Ruth Miskin. 

Our intent

At Corley Academy, we quickly identified that there are still far too many of our students (and this is a National picture) leaving primary school who read too slowly to take in the meaning of what they are reading or are unable to access literacy tasks across the wider curriculum. These students struggle to access learning in their other subjects and, if they are on a GCSE pathway, it is projected that only 10% of those struggling readers would be able to gain a GCSE in Maths and English. Moreover, we recognise that the ability to read is a life skill that is undeniably vital to life beyond school and want to ensure that our struggling readers are given the structured support to be able to be included in the community and employment once they leave school.

Structure of the sessions

At least twice a week, students engage in 15-20 minute 1:1 and small group sessions. Our sessions are run by trained staff who have recently engaged in Read, Write, Inc Fresh Start training. 

Who is it for?

Fresh Start is designed to target struggling readers aged 9-13+. In secondary schools and at Corley Academy, it is for students who we have identified (via rigorous reading assessment and phonics screening):

• did not meet national expectations at the end of Key Stage 2
• have missed schooling or are late arrivals into school
• are new to the UK education system

• are learning English as an additional language.

We currently have 18 groups running. Once the students within these intervention groups have made progress that allows them to better access the curriculum and demonstrate growing confidence in literacy, the next group of students will be identified and the programme will begin again for the new cohort. As with all our practice, we echo Ruth Miskin's message: "Let's stick with them until they can really read."

Research-informed Sessions

Please see the following links to strategy, research and analysis around reading in secondary schools. These articles consolidate our intent to use Read, Write, Inc Fresh Start to support our students' progress in reading: 

The reading framework - GOV.UK

‘Now the whole school is reading’: supporting struggling readers in secondary school - GOV.UK

Parent/Carer support

Please see the following link for further details on the programme and short video, giving an insight into the sessions:

About Fresh Start - Secondary

If your child is currently receiving Fresh Start interventions, Mrs Foxon will have been in touch via a letter to identify further support opportunities. If you would like more information about the programme or your child's progress in Fresh Start as well as 1:1 sessions, please contact our Fresh Start Reading Leader Kate Foxon: kfoxon@corley.thrive.ac