Laisterdyke Leadership Academy in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is an academy-led secondary school, for pupils in year 7 to year 11 (KS3 - KS4). Laisterdyke is part of Star Academies, a prestigious multi-academy trust (MAT), with 22 other secondary schools around the UK (23 in total).
Star Academies provides numerous opportunities for students in all of its schools, such as extra-curricular and leadership development, and is well-equipped to support and improve schools that were struggling before they joined the academy group. Star Academies is 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.
Take a look at our work with Star Academies.Laisterdyke selected ReadingWise Comprehension and ReadingWise Decoding in February 2022. Both interventions are in place as of 2024, and the school expects to continue working with us to support learners into the future.
In January 2023, Laisterdyke had its Ofsted inspection, achieving a Good grade.
School Report Inspection of a Good School: Laisterdyke Leadership Academy, Part of Star Academies
At ReadingWise, we are proud to champion the schools we work with. Here are a few of the highlights from the report:
“Pupils’ learning has improved. This is, in part, because leaders have raised their expectations of pupils’ behaviour and achievement. Older pupils told inspectors that behaviour is much improved. Classrooms and corridors are calm and quiet.”
“Pupils feel safe in school. They know that staff will listen to their worries and do their best to resolve them. Staff deal with bullying promptly and effectively. They care about all pupils and look after their welfare effectively.”
“School leaders’ recent work on the curriculum, supported by trust staff, is reflective of their high aspiration for pupils.”
What does the Ofsted report say about reading?
“Leaders have prioritised reading. There are a large number of pupils who do not read as well as they should when they start school.”
“Leaders have put in place systems to precisely identify and support the specific reading problems that individual pupils face. The strategies are having a positive effect in helping more pupils to read fluently.”
One of the reasons so many pupils struggle with reading is the high percentage of those who come to this school with SEND needs, or who speak English as Another Language (EAL). This report notes the fact that:
“Leaders accurately identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Appropriate support plans, called ‘star maps’, contain useful SEND information. Teachers use the information effectively to remove learning barriers and provide individual support to pupils should they need it.”
As this shows:
How ReadingWise supports reading and literacy at Laisterdyke Leadership Academy
ReadingWise covers all areas 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 improvements across the school, Laisterdyke 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.
Vocab: A special vocabulary programme for learners aged 6 - 16 (Years 2-11), for primaries and secondaries.
Vocab aims to reinforce words that you are bringing to life in the classroom. You are providing context - we are helping embed the words in learners' long-term memories.
Delivery: 10 minute sessions 3-5 times a week - at home, at school, or a mix of both. Evidence suggests shorter, more regular sessions are better than longer, irregular sessions.
Zip: An adaptive learning programme for children aged 5 - 7 (Reception and Y1) learning to decode.
Delivery: 5-10-minute sessions a day – at school or home. Supervised by one trained member of staff.
Training for teachers, TAs, literacy leads, and SENDcos
Staff at every level, including teachers, TAs, literacy leads, and SENDcos were trained in Zip, Vocab, Comprehension, and Decoding, the four modules deployed to raise reading levels across this quickly-improving secondary school, with support and resources from Star Academies.
Over 300,000 pupils in UK schools have completed a ReadingWise programme! We hope to help you and your children, too.
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