Erdington Academy, part of the Fairfax Multi Academy Trust (FMAT) in Birmingham, is an academy-led, secondary school, for children in years 7 to year 11 (KS3 - KS4). Erdington is part of Fairfax Multi Academy Trust (FMAT), a multi-academy trust (MAT), currently with four other schools teaching children from reception through to A levels.
Fairfax Multi Academy Trust provides numerous opportunities for students in all of its schools, such as extra-curricular and leadership development. Fairfax Academy schools are also skilled at supporting teachers, TAs, SENDcos, and leadership teams in schools where there is a higher-than-average number of pupils with SEND and EAL needs.
We also worked with larger academies: Take a look at our work with Star Academies.
Erdington selected ReadingWise Comprehension and ReadingWise Decoding early in 2023. Both interventions are in place as of 2024, and the school expects to continue working with us to support learners into the future.
In April 2023, Erdington Academy had its Ofsted inspection, achieving a Good grade (its previous inspection in 2019 noted that improvements were required, and the school has achieved that).
Ofsted report of a good school: Erdington Academy, FMAT
At ReadingWise, we are proud to champion the schools we work with. Here are a few of the highlights from the report:
“Leaders have high expectations of all pupils. They ensure that the values of excellence, dedication, tradition, integrity and ambition are central to the school’s culture. They have developed a calm and orderly environment, where pupils feel safe.”
“Pupils value ‘The Erdington Edge Programme’, which includes extra-curricular activities and educational visits. They are enthusiastic about the many clubs offered, such as journalism, sports, gardening, guitar and games clubs. As part of the programme, there are many opportunities for pupil leadership, and they are proud of the positive contribution they make to the community.”
What does the Ofsted report say about reading?
“Leaders have prioritised reading, encouraging pupils to become confident and fluent readers.”
“Staff are trained to support pupils who find reading difficult. This has rapidly improved pupils’ confidence in reading in key stage 3.”
“Teachers have secure subject knowledge and consider the approaches they use to ensure pupils progress well. This is particularly strong in subjects such as English.”
“Pupils with SEND follow the same ambitious curriculum as their peers. Staff are well trained in identifying additional needs and assessing these needs. Appropriate interventions support pupils who need additional help.”
As this shows:
How ReadingWise supports reading and literacy at Erdington Academy, part of the Fairfax Multi Academy Trust (FMAT)
ReadingWise is an online, evidence-backed, intervention programme designed for every aspect of reading – decoding, comprehension, and vocabulary. This provides leaders, teachers, TAs, and SENDcos with a coherent, unified approach to improving literacy.
To support literacy and reading across the school, Erdington benefits from access to the following modules:
Decoding: So much more than just another phonics programme for Years 2-11. Our decoding module, for primaries and secondaries, develops deep independence in learners, empowers them, and consistently improves reading ages by over 9 months in just 20 hours.
Decoding is a powerful literacy intervention module:
Delivery: 20-25 minute sessions 3-5 times a week. Supervised by 1 trained TA working with 10 learners.
Comprehension: A powerful, engaging, and fun literacy intervention module to develop the quest for meaning behind a narrative for Years 5 - 9. Its content, structure, and design deliver age-appropriate sessions for primary and secondary schools.
ReadingWise Comprehension empowers learners through key strategies.
Delivery: 10 week programme, 45-minute sessions run twice a week in groups of 10, with one trained member of staff.
Training for schools and teachers
Staff at every level, including teachers, TAs, literacy leads, and SEND specialists, were trained in Zip, Vocab, Comprehension, and Decoding, the four modules deployed to raise reading levels across this outstanding secondary school.
Over 300,000 pupils in UK schools have completed a ReadingWise programme! We hope to help you and your children, too.
Find out more about our:
Boost your school's literacy results: Arrange your 20-minute demo at a time to suit you.
Find out everything you need to know about ReadingWise with our friendly, knowledgeable team.
