Reading
Intent
Reading is not simply the decoding of words on the page but involves the ability to read, with understanding, a wide range of different types of text including: fiction, non-fiction, real world texts such as labels, captions, and lists, and print in the environment. As William Wordsworth once said,
“Dreams, books, are each a world.”
We believe that reading is a gateway into new worlds and helps us gain a greater understanding of the world around us. Competence in reading is the key to independent learning, therefore the teaching of reading is given a high priority by all staff across the school. The Reading curriculum has been specifically sequenced in a logical progression to ensure that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before: Early Years to Year 6. This enables our pupils to know more and remember more. End points and target points within objectives are identified for each year group through a whole school reading progression plan. Within Guided Reading/Whole Class Reading lessons, children have the opportunity to read at least once a week with their class teacher. Within Whole Class Reading lessons, children share the enjoyment of reading as a whole class. Where possible, reading texts are chosen to fit closely with the Half Termly topic and therefore support a cross-curricular approach.
We place reading at the heart of the curriculum, so it is prioritised allowing pupils to access the full curriculum offer. Around school, you will find displays which celebrate authors – including our author of the term displays – inspiring reading areas, pupil’s favourite books, authors and recommended reads. Daily story time takes place in every class with an adult modelling fluency and intonation. It is supported with a whole school reading spine which introduces them to a range of stories written by highly regarded authors.
All pupils are exposed daily to a variety of quality books and shorter texts that are both fiction and non-fiction. Everybody can become fluent, confident readers who are able to successfully comprehend and understand a wide range of texts. Pupils develop a love of reading; a good knowledge of a range of authors; understand more about the world in which they live to widen their horizons and raise their aspirations. Reading is prioritised across our broad and balanced curriculum allowing pupils to read and understand all subjects. Pupils develop resilience by reading and re-reading to develop their understanding of challenging vocabulary.
As a result of the pandemic, our curriculum has not been narrowed however, RWI Fresh Start intervention has been accessed by pupils who need additional support to close any gaps in their learning.
At Shawbury St Marys, we believe Reading is the gateway to knowledge and is the ‘golden thread’ to learning. Until a child can read fluently and independently, other areas of the curriculum remain hard to access. We therefore place great emphasis on teaching children to read as early in their school careers as possible.
Implementation
Through the delivery of our reading curriculum we ensure a consistent and robust teaching and learning of early reading and phonics in EYFS and KS1, so that pupils are able to read with increased speed and fluency and access the wider curriculum.
We follow the Read, Write Inc Phonics programme; a systematic, synthetic phonics scheme that is validated by the Department for Education. For more information, please follow this link.
Reading in EYFS/KS1: Please see our Phonics page where you will find more information and website links to the program we follow – Read Write Inc.
Children in Reception and KS1 are assessed each half term and placed into coloured Read Write Inc groups. This ensures our children are reading to their level and are in smaller guided reading groups to enhance their reading experience. During Key Stage 1, children move from the decoding stage to comprehension. As they progress through the key stage, their books move away from being matched to their Phonic level and towards reading for understanding.
In Year 2, children begin taking part in daily Guided Reading sessions. We use our Shawbury St Mary’s Reading domains to focus on the skills of Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explain, Retrieve and Summarise. Throughout KS1, children access colour banded books matched to their reading ability to read independently.
Example of Reception and KS1 Read Write Inc Timetable:
Our Read Write Inc book bag books, that the children take home, link to the books shared in guided reading as they focus on the same sounds covered in class. This ensures continuity between school and home in the learning of phonic sounds.
Examples of Book Bag Books:
Reading in KS2: Once children at St Mary’s can read 100 words per minute fluently and can comprehend what they have read, they access Literacy and Language sessions. This is typically started in Year 2.
Children continue to take part in Guided Reading sessions in Key Stage 2, with carefully chosen, high quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts. Each class has a set book for half a term, which is read Monday-Thursday. We then have a Non-Fiction Friday which is related to our other subjects or is related to global news. The focus continues to be on Shawbury St Mary’s 6 Reading domains. At this stage it becomes vitally important that children use evidence from the text to justify their thoughts, opinions and ideas. Children read a variety of fiction and non-fiction in other subject lessons for research and enquiry. Staff implement a weekly cycle that is systematic, progressive and consistently demonstrates high expectations of our children. This cycle varies throughout school although follows the same, general structure for Year 2 onwards.
Year 1 Recommended Reads
Year 2 Recommended Reads
Year 3 Recommended Reads
Year 4 Recommended Reads
Year 5 Recommended Reads
Year 6 Recommended Reads
Your child will also bring home a book that they have chosen themselves from their class library. Your child may, or may not, be able to read this book independently. However, this is okay as the purpose of this book is to spend time sharing a book together – snuggle up and enjoy! We want your child to love reading and books and, ultimately, to want to read for themselves for pleasure. This is why we put our efforts into making sure they develop a love of books as well as simply learning to read.
All pupils, Reception, KS1 and KS2, have a home-reading record which they are encouraged to take home. Parents and carers are asked to add comments to the home-reading records 3 times a week to indicate how their children have read. This is also an opportunity to record any other books that your child may have enjoyed during the week. Adults in school will check these records on a weekly basis and if your child has read three times within the week, they will receive a tick on the reading record chart. Once they have ten ticks on the chart they will be awarded with a bronze certificate, another ten ticks gains them a silver certificate and a further ten ticks means they will get a gold certificate. So the more reading at home…the more certificates they gain!
What happens if my child finds reading tricky?
We are a keep up, not catch up school! Interventions at St Mary’s are specific, additional activities that focus on the individual needs of our children. Children who are identified as needing additional support with reading are provided with extra phonics and reading sessions within school time. Accessing these interventions ensures the children receive the high quality, targeted support that they require to decode more quickly, further developing fluency. It also ensures that children are able to explore a text in greater depth and further develop their comprehension skills. All interventions are closely monitored by the Reading and English Leader and our SENCO.
Impact
At St Mary’s Primary School we aim to encourage positive attitudes to reading in order to foster a lifelong love of books. We want to equip children with the necessary skills to become lifelong and avid readers. Children are given opportunities to listen and respond to class novels chosen by the teachers as well as experiencing a wide range of texts in all areas of the curriculum.
During their time at our school, we want them to have developed a love of language, reading and writing which will underpin any path they may choose in the future.
DEAR time in St Mary’s
(Drop Everything and Read) Dear Time starts at 8:35am and finishes at 8:45am each school day. We expect all children to come into school each morning and spend some time enjoying a book of their choice. They can read independently, to a friend or to an adult and this is a very enjoyable way to start our school day. On Fridays we invite parents and carers to join us for DEAR time and this has proven very successful. The children and adults enjoy the calm, quiet time to share a book together.
Our School Library
We have KS1 and KS2 librarians who are in charge of keeping the areas relevant and suggesting new books to buy to inspire other children in the school. A calm, welcoming environment for our children to explore, relax and unwind in!
Our Reading Environments
Starbooks
Our Starbooks Cafe is open every Tuesday from 12:15-12:45. Children are given a milkshake and share a book. We even have BookToks that recommend books for those who are stuck.
SPECIAL EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR…
World Book Day
Every year, ‘World Book Day’ is marked throughout the globe to celebrate books and reading. Created in 1995, UNESCO intended to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them. Children are gifted with a £1 book token, which they can use to purchase one of a specific range of purpose-written books or use towards the price of an existing book.
St Marys staff and children enjoy participating in a range of fun-filled activities to promote World Book Day.
Adaptive learning in Reading
St Marys Long term planning Reading Cycle A and B
Reading Domains KS1 Sentence stems