Some secondary pupils still read slowly or with effort, which leaves less attention for meaning. Confirm each pupil's reading profile before placing them together. A fluency group is appropriate when pupils share a need for more accurate, automatic and naturally phrased reading. It is not a substitute for decoding intervention where unfamiliar-word reading remains substantially insecure.

Establish the starting point

Listen to each pupil read a short, age-respectful passage. Record:

• word-reading accuracy and the types of errors;

• phrasing and attention to punctuation;

• hesitations, repetitions and self-corrections;

• understanding of the passage;

• whether performance changes after hearing a model.

Do not select pupils or judge progress by reading speed alone. The purpose of fluency is to free attention for meaning.

Form groups carefully

Pupils can work together when their accuracy, text level and principal target are sufficiently similar. A pupil with broad and persistent reading difficulty may need a more intensive individual assessment and intervention rather than joining a fluency group by default.

Set out the target, baseline, session pattern, teacher or trained adult, review date and exit criteria. A typical pattern is pairs or groups of up to four, three sessions of about 20 minutes a week. How long it runs depends on each pupil's need. The school decides where it fits, rotating the slot if possible so pupils don't keep missing the same subject, and when to review progress (often after six to eight weeks). Select short texts from age-appropriate fiction, articles and curriculum subjects. Avoid materials that look designed for much younger children.

A practical session structure

1. Briefly introduce the context and any essential vocabulary.

2. The adult models fluent reading of a short section.

3. Pupils use echo or supported paired reading.

4. Pupils reread the section with decreasing support.

5. The group discusses one meaning question.

6. The adult records a brief observation about accuracy, phrasing and independence.

Correction should be immediate and calm. Repeated reading should be purposeful and limited; it is not repeated testing.

Connect intervention with lessons

Subject teachers can reinforce fluency by previewing essential terminology, allowing supported rehearsal of a short passage and avoiding unexpected public reading. Intervention staff should use curriculum-relevant texts without turning sessions into catch-up subject teaching.

Monitor the right outcomes

Use comparable but unfamiliar passages to review accuracy, phrasing and comprehension. Also look for improved access to normal classroom reading. If decoding errors remain prominent, assess these separately. If fluency improves but understanding does not, investigate vocabulary and comprehension.

Programme and resource options

• HFL Reading Fluency Project (paid) has separate KS3 and KS4 versions based on modelled, echo and repeated reading. HFL trains the staff (one-day courses or an eight-week programme), and cost is on request. The published results are HFL's own data, measured with the York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension.

• Thinking Reading (paid) is an intensive one-to-one secondary intervention, not a routine fluency group. Consider it only where individual assessment shows broader, substantial and persistent reading difficulty and the school can meet its staffing and training requirements. The provider reports lessons of about 30 minutes and an average of 33 lessons to complete catch-up. Its website cites no independent evaluation, and cost is on request.

• EEF: Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools offers free evidence-informed guidance but is not a packaged intervention.

Match provision to the assessed need and review its impact.

Talamo has no commercial relationship with any of the organisations named here. We suggest them only because we think they could be useful to schools.