Literacy matters! It matters because it supports wellbeing, confidence, and enables students to develop greater depths of knowledge. Literacy improves educational outcomes, opens up access to employment and allows young people to thrive in life beyond school.

KS3 students have one lesson of Accelerated Reader a week. Accelerated Reader is a web based system divided into two sections.

• The first section is STAR reading which is a reading ability test. STAR reading tests are completed in September, December, April and July. After students complete the STAR test they are given a reading age and a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) code. The ZPD allows students to select books from the library within their reading ability. Students then borrow this book and this becomes part of their equipment. They are encouraged to read their library book once a week at home and complete a log in their reading record books.
• The second part of the system is the Accelerated Reader (AR) quizzes. AR quizzes are completed after a student has read a book. The AR quizzes show the students the percentage of questions they got correct and shows them incorrect answers. There are also vocabulary quizzes based on the books they have read. Students then swap their library books for another within their ZPD. 

Reports from the STAR reading tests and Accelerated Reader quizzes are posted home to parents/guardians periodically. 

Students with low reading ages are then withdrawn from non-core lessons for 1:1 reading intervention twice a week. These sessions are tailored to the students' ability to strengthen their sight-reading and comprehension. The library is used before school, during lunch and after school as a space for additional reading, study club enrichment and revision. 

Other programmes used at OIAMFS to aid literacy are Ruth Miskin read write inc, Oxford Reading Tree and Toe by Toe.