Reading
The teaching of reading focuses on the development of competence in word reading and comprehension. The children are taught to read with confidence, accuracy, fluency and understanding, orchestrating a range of independent cues (phonic, graphic, grammatical, and contextual) to make sense of what they have read. Good comprehension draws from knowledge of language and on knowledge of the world. Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experiences of high quality discussion and teaching, carefully chosen texts (stories, poems and non-fiction) which broaden the children’s understanding of the world. Children are encouraged to read widely and with pleasure and opportunities to increase their vocabulary are built into daily teaching. It is essential that all pupils are able to read fluently and with confidence in any subject.
Curriculum organisation
Reading is planned and taught using objectives from the National Curriculum. Pupils enjoy high-quality whole texts (fiction, non-fiction and poetry) through English lessons and the wider curriculum. They are taught to read fluently and enjoy a wide range of texts through:
- Weekly 1:1 reading sessions for every child in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One and opportunities for children in Key Stage Two
- Extra 1:1 reading sessions for target pupils
- Daily phonics sessions, using the Read Write Inc programme, for pupils in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One and for target pupils in Key Stage Two
- Exposure to a wide range of quality literature
- Planned opporutnities for independent, paired and shared reading
- Weekly guided reading sessions for pupils in Reception and targeted pupils in Key Stage One where they have the opportunity to orally rehearse comprehension responses with some written activities
- Regular whole class reading sessions and written comprehension activities in Key Stage One and Key Stage Two
- Teaching of reading strategies in Key Stage One and Two based on the ERIC approah (Explain, Retrieve, Interpret, Choice) which is a skills based approach to the teaching and learning of reading comprehension
- Links made between reading and writing activities through the novel study approach and to the wider curriculum, as appropriate
We recognise the value of all readers sharing books with an adult, whether at school or at home. Each class has a class-reader which is shared at planned moments during the school day. Parents and carers are encouraged to listen to their children read at least three times each week.
Books are banded to match the the progression within the Read Write Inc phonics scheme. Children will bring home a book that contains the conatins the phoneme-grapheme correspondences that they have learnt . Pupils also take home books for pleasure from the class collection of books. These books are to be shared with family members and have been careully chosen to promote reading for pleasure. Children may also use and select books from the school library.
Many additional activities are arranged to promote the pleasure of reading, such as World Book Day, National Poetry Day, booknics, secret storyteller sessions and inviting authors into school to work with children.