Reading
We firmly believe that all children should have access to high quality books throughout their time at school and, in order to enjoy stories and literature to the full, they need to be exposed to a langauge rich curriculum that stretches them and feeds their imaginations. In every class there are opportunities for children to talk to their teachers and to extend their vocabulary and understanding and to develop their listening and communciation skills.
Great emphasis is placed on an early interest in reading and in developing a love of books. From their first day in school all children are encouraged to listen to stories, look at books, and take part in making class books. All teachers in all classes read to the children every day; the amount varies, but, as a rule of thumb, children in Early Years and KS1 have stories read to them at least three times a day and in KS2 the classes end the day with a chapter from their class book. The children are encouraged to select the books they would like to hear in KS1 and Early Years and teachers choose books in KS2 based on their class’ interests. All staff encourage children to identify and discuss unfamilair vocabulary during these reading sessions.
All staff actively promote reading for pleasure and we encourage chilren to bring in favourite books from home to share with their friends at our half termly Book Club; each class holds one such event and children may bring in a book to show their friends and make a recomendation.
Every day, before lunch, two Year 6 pupils read a story to pupils in Reception.
Most children are heard to read by an adult in school on a regular basis; in KS1 and for some older pupils this will be on a daily basis. In both key stages pupils also have a weekly comprehension sessions, which help not only to develop their reading skills, but also develop their understanding of a variety of language and texts.
As well as teaching the necessary skills for fluent mechanical reading we also teach children how to understand and interpret the nuances of different texts through structured reading comprehension lessons. In the Early Years’ class children learn, through discussion, to retrieve information and make simple predictions. Higher level reading skills, such as inference and deduction, are taught in all other classes on a weekly basis and progress is checked through weekly reading comprehension activities; as children progress through school there is more emphasis on providing detailed written answers. Reading comprehension texts are closely matched to the particular genre of writing being studied. New and unfamilair langauge is discussed and we encourage all children to ask about any words they are unsure of.
In Reception and KS1 reading books are closely matched to the childrens’ phonics knowledge; our main reading scheme is the Rising Stars, Reading Planet books, but this is supplemented by Rhino Readers for our early readers. When children are ready to move away from a reading scheme, staff help them to chose books from the library, which are age appropriate and will continue to develop reading skills.
Reading is a cross-curricular activity and the children are given opportunities to extend their reading skills, sight vocabulary and language acquisition in all subjects.
Phonics
In Reception and KS1 the children all have daily phonics lessons. As a school we use the Twinkl Phonics Scheme. We use a variety of resources and games to aid the children and to make the teaching and learning of phonics exciting and interesting.
Below is a list of websites that can support you and your child with letters and sounds
www.bbc.co.uk/school/wordsandpictures
Games mainly aimed at year 1 and year 2 looking at sounds and high frequency words. Some printable activities too particularly for the phase 4 blends.
· www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize
Games to practice key skills such as rhyming, punctuation and grammar.
http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ParentsMenu.htm
Lots of free games for each phase, especially good for reading non-words. You can also subscribe to access more games.
Includes further information on each phase as well as printable resources and links to online games.
Wide range of games for sounds, words and rhyming.