SHARPREADiNG (as the name suggests) is an approach to teaching reading which aims to get the very best outcomes for the student and the teacher. There is the ever increasing demand to meet the needs of the individual reader but we must make that an obtainable goal for the teacher without causing them to melt-down in the process.

SHARPREADiNG takes the things that teachers' have always done well and the things that the latest research says we should be doing, and strips them back to simple, predictable routines and a developmental progression which provides the teachers (and the students) with something that is much more transperant, meaningful, motivating ... and FUN ... sharp reading.

Yes, overwhelmingly the students we talk to are enjoying the classroom reading programme much more and they talk about the transference of the new skills they are learning into other areas of the curriculum and their personal reading.

And the teachers heave a sigh of relief because now, for at least one part of their day, they know exactly what they will be doing!

The underpining belief that we have ensconced in this approach is that there needs to be scaffolded, systematic, explicit teaching of the reading strategies that good readers use, followed by the opportunity for lots and lots (and lots) of practice in the use of them until they become automated. No more flitting about from teachable moment to teachable moment, a bit of this and a bit of that (we call it smorgasbord teaching), but instead adherance to a clever plan that over time, will deliver.

Have a look at our one page developmental progression which sets the benchmark for reading instruction across the school - from 5 year olds to 14 year olds.