All students are explicitly taught tier three vocabulary. This ensures that students acquire a rich and complex vocabulary, allowing them to access the curriculum in a deep and meaningful way.  

 Year 7 and 8 students’ vocabulary and comprehension skills are assessed twice a year. This enables students to receive targeted support. Additional support is provided, in the form of the Lexia Reading Programme, to those students who have a reading age of under 9.5 years. 

 In September 2021 key stage three students will be taught a literacy-based English curriculum which, as research has shown, (Just reading, 2019) has a significant impact upon the reading ability of all students, no matter their reading age.