GORSE

Forensic Reading

‘We need to revel in the fascination of what is difficult.’
– W. B. Yeats

Forensic Reading Overview

Forensic reading is a whole-school approach which involves putting language, critical ideas and imagery under the microscope to arrive at a deeper understanding of it and of the world in which we live.

We have developed our own, unique set of reading materials – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, journalism and multi-media – in the form of six strands for students in Years 5 to 13 with the prerequisites that these materials are of the highest quality as well as being intellectually challenging.

The six strands have been realised in the form of beautifully designed anthologies, all of which are supported with high quality PowerPoints and teacher notes, to support the delivery of the texts.

Aims of Forensic Reading

To develop our students’ ability to think critically, to recognise sub-text and authorial intent.

To provide our students with the benefits that are synonymous with reading widely: general knowledge; a better understanding of other cultures; a greater insight into human nature and decision-making, as well as exposure to the nuances and delights of language.

To give our students the opportunity to explore challenging topics that broaden their understanding and awareness of the wider world.

Along with these clear aims there is compelling evidence from performance tables that Forensic Reading has dramatically improved the outcomes of our students.

As an example, in 2019, students at Hillcrest Academy, in the Chapeltown area of Leeds, a rich multi-cultural and multi-language community, achieved an overall reading score of 7.9 and a score of 8.6 for its disadvantaged cohort, making it the highest performing school in Leeds for reading.

The 6 Strands

Forensic Reading consists of six strands, carefully chosen by a range of experts across The GORSE Academies Trust, for Years 5-13. The texts are supplemented by multi-media texts and by bespoke PowerPoints with extensive, high-quality Teacher Notes. Accompanying these PowerPoints are four printed anthologies for Years 5-6, Years 7-8, Years 9-11 and Years 12-13 for each of the six Forensic Reading strands. These printed anthologies also contain stunning images and questions which complement and support each text. Please note that these printed anthologies can be ordered for you but there would be print and ancillary costs involved should you wish to have these.

The hard-hitting texts in this strand are critical in presenting the misogynistic attitudes which manifest themselves in both children’s and adult literature. ‘The Secret Garden’ looks at how young girls were expected to be inert, passive and dine on a thin gruel of both intellectual knowledge and actual diet. This is further reinforced by ‘Fat is Ugly’ looking at how femininity is construed in an avaricious ‘size zero’ culture. How the traditional gold standard of toxic masculinity seeks to objectify, humiliate and degrade women is exposed in ‘At Home with Mr Sticky Fingers’, ‘There’s Only One Yorkshire Ripper’ and ‘My Last Duchess’. ‘Fight like a Girl’ is an uplifting text, looking at how women organised themselves in their fight for equality and equal pay and won major concessions from a reluctant employer and a largely resistant government.

These texts explore what is magnificent in the human psyche – the ability to remain emotionally resilient and to thrive in the most difficult and abject of circumstances. Sometimes what appears to be the miraculous or the divine seems to come to our aid, as in ‘I am David’ or ‘Skellig’ and sometimes we seem to have moments of pure serendipity or good luck as in ‘A Long Way Home’.

The ability of children and young people to see the truth in all things is tenderly observed in ‘Iqbal’ and ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, while the ability of the human spirit to soar after periods of titanic gloom and depression is profoundly experienced in ‘Reasons to Stay Alive’ and ‘The World I Feel Out Of’. ‘Frankenstein’ offers many illuminations about human beings and our ability to create new life and what should be the limits of human beings playing ‘God’.

The fragility of our plant is viewed from various perspectives from how the land is used and exploited by humanity in ‘Watership Down’ to the aboriginal idea of not living off the land but living with the land in ‘Along the Rabbit Proof Fence’. The delicate ecological balance is explored in ‘The Scourge of the Oceans’ and ‘a Wide-Angled View of Fragile Earth’, while Earth’s historical place in the cosmos is examined in ‘Human Universe’. The dynamic interrelationship between the fragility of nature and man’s emotional and physical well-being is examined in ‘A Song of Myself’. ‘Silent Spring’ examines the wonderful contribution made by Rachel Carson to environmental science and our need to revere and respect ourselves and our planet.

Journeys with spiritual and mystical meaning are examined in many of these texts but so are ideas of a dystopian future where the very need to journey and explore is seen as a regressive tendency, as examined in ‘The Pedestrian’ and a society that views intelligence as potentially dangerous and subversive in ‘Examination Day’. ‘Benefits and Risks of AI’ explores the interface between humanity and Artificial Intelligence and how this might unfold in future society. What does journeying towards our sun tell us about solar winds and how might the insights gained help us live more securely on our planet?

Secrets and Lies are explored both from an individual, societal and cosmic perspective and what price has to be paid for the perpetuation of these. Secrets and lies impact profoundly on young Pip in ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘Lyra’ in ‘His Dark Materials: Northern Lights’. ‘The Lie Tree’ looks at the tensions between religion and science following the publication of ‘On the Origin of Species’ in 1859.
Secrets and lies that are predicated on stereotypes and assumptions are brutally exposed in ‘The Darkness Out There’, while the awful truth about State Plan 14.25 and the doping of East German athletes is analysed in ‘The Person Who Pays for Everything Is the Athlete’.

Varying perspectives on power and conflict are explored here by way of examination of historical abuse of external power in ‘The Book Thief’ and ‘Once’, to the conflict suffered by those disabused of power in ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ and ‘The Hate You Give’. Other perspectives on power and conflict include the affirmative use of power in the acceptance speeches by the Vice-President Elect and the President-Elect of the United States in November 2020 and Malala’s inspirational speech on the power of education at the United Nations Youth Assembly. Aspiration and optimism and its relation to power and conflict are explored in ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ and analysis of the speeches of Martin Luther King.

Resources

Below are sample examples of the type and range of resources used in Forensic Reading, including pages from anthologies, PowerPoint slides and accompanying Teacher Notes

Request the free electronic copies of the texts and teacher PowerPoints

To request the resources please either fill out the contact form or send an email to [email protected].


    CPD

    £1,500

    1 day of TGAT Training on Forensic Reading

    If you would like to receive costed CPD on the delivery of Forensic Reading materials please fill out the contact form or send an email to [email protected].