DRET Reads

DRETReads – A Reading Programme

Context

The DfE Recovery Premium presented an opportunity to have a long lasting impact on the culture of reading in our schools, and this is when we were first able to establish our reading programme – DRET Reads. We want our children and young people to become fluent, independent readers who have confidence in their reading ability and have developed good reading habits, enabling them to read widely outside of school and for pleasure. We know that there are clear links between children who read independently and their academic outcomes: ‘Reading enjoyment has been reported as more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status’ (OECD, 2002) 

We do not want students to be limited by their current reading age. For example, Great Expectations or I am Malala, both have a reading age of 13. Nationally 25% of 15-year-olds have a reading age of below 12, so many of our students could not easily access these books independently. Dickens wrote Great Expectations and other novels as an important comment on society, and the books were not meant to be exclusive. By reading these books aloud we allow all our children in.

What informed the development of DRET Reads?

We have drawn upon programmes developed by other schools and Trusts, and research to inform our approach to the development of DRET Reads.

These quotes capture why at the centre of DRET Reads is the opportunity for students to regularly listen to their tutor reading aloud to their whole tutor group: 

In listening to and following a text read aloud by a more capable reader, who provides scaffolding, a less fluent reader can experience autonomy and fluency and bypass frustrating ‘sticking points’ at phonemic, semantic or word level to focus on comprehension.

(Wood et al 1976, Kuhn et al 2010)

Reading a text aloud creates a community of readers who produce their own situated reading practices in the classroom over time.

(Brown et al 1989, Sutherland 2015)

Participation in shared reading groups is linked to enhanced relaxation, calmness, concentration, quality of life, confidence and self-esteem, as well as feelings of shared community and common purpose.

(Longden E. et all., 2015)

DRET Reads - Books

Books have been chosen by a wide range of stakeholders across the Trust, including the English subject community, the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion group, Principals and senior leaders in schools, the Trust central team, and Trustees. There were debates and discussions with a clear focus on breadth of coverage, appropriate levels of challenge, diversity and ensuring the selection enabled students to gain access to literature which they would not necessarily be able to independently. Over time the selection of books has evolved with ownership of DRET Reads being held at a school level and involving student voice.  This table provides an overview of the initial selection of books: