Skills Academy is a reading intervention programme for students in Years 7 and 8 that uses the excitement and passion surrounding sport to motivate young people to improve their literacy skills.

The 10-week programme provides detailed ready-to-use lesson plans to help deliver key objectives from the Key Stage 3 curriculum. It uses appealing, relatable, sports-themed texts to teach five core comprehension skills. As students complete weekly reading challenges in one of two modules – freestyle football or beatbox and breakdance – they are rewarded with how-to videos from relevant professionals to help them improve their own skills. The video tutorials are all accessed through the dedicated Skills Academy website. Participating schools also receive 10 books as a class library to encourage reading for pleasure.

Cost: £150 per year.

About National Literacy Trust: NLT is an independent literacy charity working with schools and communities to give disadvantaged children the literacy skills to succeed in life. The charity runs literacy programmes, CPD training courses for teachers, and provides online resources and tools to its members. It also undertakes research into all aspects of literacy and campaigns to raise awareness of literacy issues.