Reading

Intent:

With regards to Reading, phonics will be emphasised in the early teaching of reading and continued in EYFS and Key Stage 1.

We aim to design a curriculum which has reading at its core across all curriculum areas. We intend to encourage all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to gain knowledge across the curriculum and develop their comprehension skills. Through choosing quality texts, we intend to develop a love of reading and allow children to recognise the pleasure they can get from their reading, as well as an understanding that reading allows them to discover new knowledge and vocabulary, revisit prior knowledge and understand more about what they learn, fuelling their imagination for ideas to use in their own work. It is our intention to ensure that, by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

Implementation:

Expectations are that all children should read every night at home.
Age appropriate texts, for whole class reading, are selected by teachers with the knowledge of how they link to other areas of the curriculum. They cover a wide range of genres.
Books are also carefully selected to support the teaching of writing.
Reading Scheme – The school uses Collins Big Cat reading scheme which links to the phonics Essential Letters and Sounds. All books are book banded in order to ensure progression and challenge for all children. This is used across the school. Once the children have read the Pearl texts they then become free readers. These free readers are age appropriate.
Reading Fluency Project– This is undertaken with pupils who are lower ability readers. This is delivered by the school, following training from providers.
5 Plagues Reading Spine – A wide selection of books have been purchased from this text selector. These books cover a range of texts that children should have access to in order to successfully navigate reading with confidence.
Individual Reading – all children in Foundation Stage and KS1 read individually to a trained adult once a week. Throughout school some children will read 1 to 1 with an adult as a form of intervention. In EYFS, reading is further supported through additional reading sessions where needed.
Home Reading – Children are expected to read at least 5 times a week at home and take home ‘home’ reading books. Parents / carers are requested to comment in their ‘home/school’ reading records up to year 4. Upper KS2 have diaries to record their reading in. All children in EYFS and Year 1 take home reading books that revisit the phonemes they have been learning, each book gets progressively harder. Once phonemes / graphemes are consolidated, the children will move on to the next sounds. In EYFS and KS1, books are changed at least 3 times a week if each book has been read and understood. In KS2, books are changed as soon as a book is finished, providing children have understood what they have read. In Upper KS2, children complete a reading journal after they have finished a book.
Guided Reading –Guided and shared reading sessions allow children to focus on comprehension and inference skills. Dictionary skills are also a focus.
Library – Children are timetabled to visit the school library each week and choose a book to read at home for pleasure.
Assessment– Formal assessment is carried out through the use of PIRA in the Summer term in KS1 and KS2. This is used to help with Teacher assessment.
Pupil progress meetings with the Headteacher and teachers each term ensure different groups and individual progress is monitored and interventions organised to support progress. Phonics across the school is specifically monitored.

Impact:

Children will have a love of Reading and make at least good progress in Reading from their last point of statutory assessment and in EYFS from reception baseline.
Children will use their Reading skills as a key tool in helping them to learn, and as a result, know more, remember more and understand more.
Pupils discuss books with excitement and interest.
Pupils are being adventurous with vocabulary choices.
Children to be encouraged to be secure in phase 3 or 4 when they leave reception.
Children are secure in phase 5 by the time the Phonics Screening Check is administered.

For more information regarding our reading scheme, please click here.