Flying With Fluency
At the end of 2023, I led a CPD session with a focus on reading fluency at the Linskill Centre. The session was well attended by both primary and secondary colleagues and I’ve also previously discussed the role of teaching fluency in this article. Now I'd like to share the journey we've been on with one of our local schools, St Cuthbert's RC Primary School in North Shields, to develop and embed fluency in reading in their school. They are most certainly now flying with fluency!
Fluency at St Cuthbert’s
One of the schools who joined our training was St Cuthbert’s RC Primary School in North Shields. They requested fluency training for their whole staff at school as they could see the importance of teaching explicit fluency skills to help bridge the gap between decoding and comprehension. The content of the session included an exploration of how to weave explicit teaching of fluency into regular practice in different ways.
Embedding the training
A few months later, I was visiting the school for another reason when I was approached by the deputy head teacher who was keen to show me the work they had been doing to develop fluency since their staff training session. Teachers in school have taken their new learning, combined with creativity and determination, to make fluency a key aspect of how pupils learn to read at St. Cuthbert’s. Practitioners have woven explicit fluency teaching into both whole class and guided reading sessions in individual classrooms but have also taken fluency to a whole-school level by introducing ‘Fluency Friday’ every week.
Now that fluency has a raised profile, teachers and pupils are seeing both impact, and growing understanding of the role of fluency in reading. When asked about their approach to fluency, teachers noted:
"Whole class fluency lessons have given us a strong focus where we can demonstrate the fluency skills necessary, and children are able to build fluency through activities such as echo or choral reading."
"Fluency lessons have had a positive impact on our children's reading abilities; supporting them in thinking about what the text means and helping them to make connections."
"In guided reading, we are able to assess strengths and address areas to improve in relation to their reading fluency as well as monitor progress."
Fluency Friday
So, what is ‘Fluency Friday’ at St. Cuthbert’s? These activities follow the same pattern each week, typically using a short rhyme, poem or song. This is sometimes linked to a particular area of the curriculum, or it might be something to do with a particular event that is happening. They even did some Newcastle United songs and chants when they were playing in the Carabao Cup: the children waved flags etc and different children led it.
Pupils practise and rehearse the poem before the performance on Friday morning so that the children are familiar with it and can build up a good level of automaticity. It always takes place outdoors (sometimes the hall when the weather is poor) and involves the whole school from Nursery to Year 6. Often, they gather in a big circle, or sometimes in lines, and they occasionally use a little dance or step routine alongside the poem or rhyme. Leaders have always got one eye on Tim Rasinski for ideas and inspiration!
What do the children think?
I was fortunate to experience the coming together of the whole school in shared fluency activities during my last visit to school. Pupils and teachers gathered on the playground outside to do both echo and choral reading of the popular rhyme ‘Miss Mary Mack’. Some older pupils led this activity as I witnessed the rest of the school recite together, using expression and prosody to perform. The enjoyment of pupils was clear, as they were able to recall the poem from memory having practised it prior to ‘Fluency Friday’.
What do pupils think about this new approach to reading fluency?
"Fluency Friday is my favourite day of the week - I love being outside with my friends."
"Fluency helps me to bring characters to life - I like using different voices and practising expression."
"Being a fluent reader helps me understand what I have read."
"Choral reading is fun - it's like playing a game when you read."
"Echo reading helps me see a better way of reading the text."
Children here are practising fluency and assessing each other using a fluency checklist. They love doing this and enjoy giving each other feedback. They also did a little echo read of 'Bedtimes Stink' during this session.
Flying with fluency
It has been wonderful to see this school ‘flying with fluency’ and the impact this is having on pupils, both in terms of developing comprehension and enjoyment of reading.
Take a look at my previous article Teaching reading fluency: a focused look
Ready to find out more?
If you would like further support to develop reading fluency in school, our team can provide guidance and training with this. Please do get in touch.
