Literacy and The Morning Read

At MHA, literacy is central to the curriculum and underpins success in every subject. We are committed to ensuring that all students become confident readers, writers, speakers, and listeners, equipped with the skills to access learning at the highest level. Our approach is systematic, evidence-formed, and inclusive.

Explicit Vocabulary Teaching:

We recognise that vocabulary knowledge is a key predictor of academic success. Across all subjects, staff deliver explicit vocabulary instruction through:

· Pre-teaching key words identified as essential for comprehension and curriculum access.

· Contextualised explanations that connect new words to prior knowledge.

· Revisiting vocabulary systematically to secure retention.

· Active use of words in speaking and writing tasks, ensuring transfer into long-term memory.

The Morning Read

Three days a week, pupils experience The Morning Read, a whole-school commitment to reading high-quality texts together. This routine:

· Promotes fluency and comprehension.

· Builds stamina and concentration for extended reading.

· Exposes students to a wide range of literature and non-fiction.

· Provides teacher modelling of expert reading behaviours.

· Creates opportunities for structured discussion and critical thinking.

Thinking Reading

For students who require additional support, we deliver Thinking Reading, a structured one-to-one intervention that:

· Combines phonics, fluency, and comprehension strategies.

· Provides individualised, targeted instruction based on diagnostic assessment.

· Rapidly closes reading gaps so students can access the wider curriculum.

· Safeguard students’ motivation, confidence and self-esteem as readers.

NGRT Testing

All pupils in Years 7 to 10 sit the NGRT. The test is age-standardised and nationally normed, meaning that a score of 100 on the “Standard Age Score” (SAS) represents the national average reading ability for a pupil of that age.

The most current data from our cohort shows that pupils are performing at or very close to the national average (i.e., around SAS 100). Those whose scores fall significantly below around 88 are flagged for intervention.

In practical terms, this means that for our Years 7-10 cohort:

· Most students are reading at a level comparable to their peers nationally.

· We have robust baseline and progress data that allows us to monitor reading development across secondary years.

· Where necessary, intervention can be targeted precisely using this data (for example for pupils whose SAS is below the threshold for “average/time-expected” progress).

Here are key reading texts used from Years 7 to 10, each selected to support one or more of Mark Hall’s Personal Development themes. Themes include:

• Personal identity and wellbeing
• Healthy relationships and respect
• Online and media literacy
• Community safety and risk awareness
• Life skills and future readiness

Year	Text	Book Description	Linked PD Themes
Year 7	Indigo Blue – Cathy Cassidy	The story explores themes of family secrets, domestic abuse, and the challenges of adapting to change.	Relationships, personal identity, wellbeing
Year 7	Once – Morris Gleitzman	Story of boy trying to find his family in Nazi Germany .	Relationships, community safety, personal identity
Year 7	What Happens Online – Nathanael Lessore	Explores online and media literacy as well as personal wellbeing and self-esteem. Told from the perspective of a 14-year old boy	Wellbeing, healthy relationships, online literacy
Year 8	The Breadwinner – Deborah Ellis	A girl survives Taliban oppression with courage and resilience.	Wellbeing, respect, life skills
Year 8	When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit -  Judith Kerr	A Jewish family escape Nazi Germany and travel to Switzerland, France, and eventually England.	Relationships, community safety, personal identity
Year 8	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon	An autistic boy encounters a dead dog on a neighbour’s lawn and decides to solve the mystery and write a detective thriller about it.	Personal identity, relationships, online literacy, life skills
Year 9	Long Way Down – Jason Reynolds	A poetic look at revenge and grief in a cycle of violence.	Risk awareness, wellbeing, relationships, community safety
Year 9	The Book Thief – Markus Zusak	Narrated by Death, the story follows Liesel’s life with her foster family, where she learns to read and shares her love for words with others, even as she and her family experience the harsh realities of war and hide a Jewish man in their basement.	Relationships, community safety, personal identity
Year 9	They Both Die at the End – Adam Silvera	The novel focuses on Mateo and Rufus, two teenagers who receive a call informing them they will die within the next twenty-four hours, leading them to reflect on how they want to live their final day.	Personal identity, relationships, online literacy, risk awareness
Year 10	Pigeon English – Stephen Kelman	Knife crime and identity seen through an immigrant boy’s eyes.	Community safety, personal identity, relationships
Year 10	A Rebel in Auschwitz – Jack Fairweather	The book tells the true story of Witold Pilecki, a Polish resistance operative who volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz. Inside the camp, Pilecki established a secret army to report on Nazi crimes, gather evidence of mass murder, and eventually escape to warn the West.	Relationships, community safety, personal identity
Year 10	Crossing The Line – Tia Fisher	Written in verse, the novel gives a direct and emotional insight into the pressures young people can face around belonging, family, and survival.	Personal identity, healthy relationships, online literacy, risk awareness