5 Ways to Kickstart your Literacy Strategy before the Summer Holidays

The final weeks of term often feel like a constant balancing act. Alongside assessments, reports and celebrations, school leaders are already looking ahead, planning for September while ensuring pupils remain engaged in learning right to the end of term.

At the same time, literacy continues to sit high on the national agenda. For many schools, improving engagement and closing attainment gaps remains an ongoing challenge, particularly as pupil needs become more complex.

While time is limited, this point in the year offers a valuable opportunity. Small, focused actions taken now can make a meaningful difference to how effectively your literacy strategy lands in the new academic year.

Here are five practical ways to make that time count:

1. Get a Head Start on Identifying Needs:

One of the most impactful things you can do before the summer is build a clear picture of your pupils’ literacy needs heading into September.

Reading age can provide a useful overview, but it rarely tells you why a pupil is struggling. A deeper understanding of the underlying skill gaps, whether in phonics, fluency, vocabulary or comprehension, allows you to plan support that is both targeted and effective.

Investing time in this now means that interventions in the autumn term can begin with clarity and purpose, rather than delay.

Further reading: Why Reading Age isn’t everything, and what to focus on instead

2. Make the Most of Transition Day and Summer Holidays

Transition is a key moment to gather insight and build momentum and continuity in learning.

Transition days can be used to introduce light-touch diagnostic activities that help you better understand incoming pupils. This early insight can inform planning, grouping and support strategies before the new term begins.

Similarly, the summer holidays, while often associated with learning loss, can also be an opportunity to maintain momentum. Simple, accessible approaches such as reading challenges, structured home activities or flexible online learning can help pupils stay connected to literacy in a manageable and engaging way.

The goal is consistency: Keeping literacy ticking over so September starts from solid foundation, not just focused on recovery.

Further Reading: 5 Tips to Support School Transitions

3. Strengthen the Link Between Literacy and Whole-School Priorities

Literacy has the greatest impact when it is embedded across the school, rather than positioned as a standalone initiative.

Taking time now to reflect on how your literacy strategy aligns with wider priorities, whether that is raising attainment, closing gaps or supporting SEND pupils, can help ensure it becomes a consistent thread running through teaching and learning.

When literacy is positioned as a foundation rather than an add-on, it becomes easier to secure staff buy-in, allocate time effectively and embed consistent practice across the school.

4. Set Staff Up for Success

A strong strategy depends on confident, well-supported staff.

Before the end of term, consider where additional guidance or professional development may be most beneficial. This might include strengthening subject knowledge, improving consistency in classroom approaches or ensuring staff feel confident using available tools and data.

Providing clarity and support at this stage helps reduce pressure in September, enabling staff to focus on implementation rather than preparation.

Further Reading: Building Teachers’ Capacity and Confidence: Empowering Educators Through Literacy Tools

5. Put Sustainable Support in Place

Effective literacy improvement relies on consistency over time. Having the right structures and tools in place can make that consistency easier to achieve.

Approaches that combine accurate assessment, targeted support, and ongoing progress monitoring can help ensure that no pupil falls behind, and that staff have the data they need to respond quickly.

Putting the right tools in place before the summer means you can start September with systems already working in the background, supporting both pupils and teachers from day one.

Looking Ahead

The steps you take now can shape how confidently your literacy strategy begins in September. With the right insight, preparation and support in place, you can move into the new academic year focused not on catching up, but on moving forward.

If you’re exploring ways to strengthen your approach, Lexia’s programmes are designed to support schools with exactly this challenge. Its adaptive approach combines assessment, targeted intervention and independent practice in one place.

You can trial Lexia free for 30 days to see how it could support your pupils and staff in the year ahead.

Simply complete the form below to request your trial and we’ll get you set up and ready to start before the holidays.