Innovative reading programme at Matthew Moss

Matthew Moss' innovative reading programme focuses on the enjoyment of reading and books

In the light of recent concerns about the lack of reading ability in Rochdale’s under 11s, it might be a good time to share the pioneering work that has been going on at Matthew Moss High School in Rochdale.

For the past year Matthew Moss has been developing an innovative reading programme that focuses not just on the mechanics of reading but aims to foster a real enjoyment of reading and books.

The results are already remarkable and research has shown that a child who reads for pleasure is also more likely to achieve in later years.

Within the iRead programme students read their own choice of reading material for ten weeks with a reading coach for twenty minutes most days.

The data on the early groups was very encouraging with an average improvement in reading ages of nearly 27 months.

Encouraged by these results the programme has now been rolled out to all our current Year 7s.

What makes this programme so unique is that all of the Year 7 group will have the benefit of a reading coach, not just the students who are struggling to read. The intention is to give all students an appreciation of reading, improve reading levels and drive up standards across the curriculum.

A number of staff also coach students across other year groups and everywhere around school you can see students enjoying their reading. The profile of reading has been raised enormously and there is a reading culture in school that is almost tangible.

If results continue to show such positive improvements then the future for readers and reading at Matthew Moss looks very bright indeed.