‘Reading and Writing floats on a sea of talk’

National curriculum in England: English programmes of study

Click here for more information on our Phonics scheme – Sounds-Write

How we are nurturing our love of reading.

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He is a short video showing the reading journey of our pupils:

Reading- Our core offer

“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.” Dr Seuss

We believe reading is central to everything. It is the key to learning and achieving aspirations.  Reading is important for learning but also for pleasure; it is a great escape into other worlds, other people’s lives and our imagination. It can inspire us all in so many ways. Children at Long Sutton learn to read and read to learn.

How we teach reading

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr Seuss

Teaching Reading in EYFS and KS1

At Fairburn View early reading is taught through the system of synthetic phonics.  We teach phonics using the ‘Sounds Write’ scheme. It is taught daily from the start of Reception with Unit1 of Initial code being taught Summer 1 in our Nursery.

Stories and book sharing are special times of each day, where teachers read a wide range of stories, poems, nursery rhymes and non-fiction books to the children. This is when children learn to understand the stories and texts they hear and where they develop a range of new vocabulary, ideas and comprehension skills. We use these books to support children’s personal, social and emotional development alongside their understanding of the world. We celebrate the work of different authors and illustrators and explore books through drama, art and role-play.

As they progress through Reception and into KS1 the children are taught further reading skills in Guided Reading sessions. These sessions are small group focus sessions with the class teacher where phonics is applied. This is a 3 step process: decoding, prosody and comprehension. The focus is on developing fluency and building confidence. As the children’s fluency improves, there is a greater focus on comprehension skills.

Teaching Reading in KS2

In KS2 we build on the children’s early reading success through reading lessons every other day over a 2 week timetable, where we teach comprehension skills, including VIPERS (vocabulary, inference, prediction, explain, retrieval and sequencing/summarising). They will also be given independent reading tasks that help them develop a deeper understanding of the texts they have read through a booklet pre-made by their class teacher. The class will share a variety of stories, poems and non-fiction texts regularly and across the curriculum to develop a shared love of reading and teachers regularly read aloud a novel to children.

 

 

How to help your child

“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, a lovely bookshelf on the wall. Then fill the shelves with lots of books.”

Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

We believe that reading to your child each day and enjoying stories with them are two of the most important things that you can do to support your child’s development as a reader. Your child will bring home a school reading book which they can read fluently; the aim is for them to practise the skills of reading taught in school and to further develop confidence.  They will need to read each book at least three times to fully develop their fluency. They may also bring home a book that they have chosen from our library for you to read to them; this is a reading book for pleasure and your child is not expected to read this themselves, and is for you to read to them.

 

How we develop a life-long love of reading

“Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.” – Roald Dahl

 

We use exciting and engaging texts to help bring all areas of the curriculum to life. Children have opportunities to read a wide range of books in both classrooms and the school library; this allows us to provide the children with new books that are relevant to their interests and which support their learning across the curriculum. These are solely reading for pleasure books. Each class has a book corner where new books or key authors are highlighted. We also have planned trips to the local library, where the children have an opportunity to take books out of their interest to keep at school.

We celebrate reading through World Book Day themes, Book swaps (a day for children to swap books or take books away for free), visits from authors and DEAR time.

 

 

How we assess reading

The children’s reading is continually assessed right through to Year 6 through questioning and teaching. At the end of each term we carry out more formal, age appropriate assessments (Rising Stars) which inform our teaching. Continually, children will be sound assessed (through the Sounds Write programme) to identify gaps in their reading and will be placed in appropriate interventions.

 

 

How do we help your children who find reading challenging?

Children who find reading

 

more difficult are given opportunities to develop their skills through 1:1 reading with an adult or through small group catch-up phonics and comprehension interventions. We take great care to support children to develop confidence and to have lots of opportunities to apply and reinforce their reading skills.

Throughout KS1 children will have a range of interventions, which include:

• Afternoon double phonics sessions (a repeated intervention of their morning sessions to accelerate progress)
• 1:1 interventions every afternoon focusing on specific gaps in children’s learning; these are identified through Sounds Write sound assessments. These are also followed up every 2/3 weeks to prepare planning.
• Incidental interventions- these could be at any time in the day to consolidate sound gaps.
• All children have 3 reading sessions a week to ensure they follow the 3 step programme (decoding, prosody and comprehension) however, in Year 2 children also have a second reading session in an afternoon, in groups specific to their ability, as well as their whole class guided reading session in the morning.

Throu

 

ghout KS2 children will have a range of interventions, which include:

• Sounds Write specific sounds assessments which inform interventions they will do 3x a week.
• They will read a minimum of 3x a week to an adult in school. This could be to a class teacher, support staff, SLT or the SENDCO.
• Children will be in an intervention for reading comprehension and will follow the 3 stages (decoding, prosody and comprehension).

 

How can you help your child?

“One of the greatest gifts adults can give – to their offspring and to their society – is to read to children.” – Carl Sagan

 

In KS2, as children become more fluent readers they still benefit from sharing books with you in order to continually develop their understanding of new vocabulary and comprehension and to foster a love of reading. Your child will bring home a school reading book that they have chosen for themselves from within their Accelerated Reader range. Even in KS2, it is still really important that you listen to them read and talk to them about what they have read, please refer to their bookmarks to help with questioning your child using VIPERS, as the children will be aware of these. In EYFS and KS1, it is imperative that you read with your children at least 3 times a week to support their reading in school, again, please refer to their bookmarks.

Did you know?

 

Children who are read to for 20 minutes a day are exposed to 1.8 million words per year; those who read for pleasure have higher academic achievement; and children who read for pleasure have better mental health.

 

Here are some benefits to you child reading regularly:

• Supported cognitive development.
• Improved language skills.
• Preparation for academic success.
• Developing a special bond with your child.
• Increased concentration and discipline.
• Improved imagination and creativity.
• Cultivating a lifelong love of reading.