Reading at South Wilford

Reading

Intent

We make it our priority to ensure that every child learns to read by the end of Key Stage 1. We aim to create fluent readers who monitor and self-correct, understand what they read and read for enjoyment and pleasure.

We are committed to help children find enjoyment in reading and to appreciate how books can offer a window to other worlds, meet amazing characters and learn about the world they live in. We choose books with important and diverse themes that help to build on their cultural capital and knowledge.

Through our carefully created Reading Spine and whole class shared reading lessons, we ensure that children leave South Wilford having been exposed to a wide range of world-class literature. Our children leave school prepared for whatever future lies ahead of them.

How we teach Early Reading

Phonics
High quality phonics is taught daily from EYFS to Year 2. We have a consistent Structured Synthetic Phonics Programme (Rocket Phonics) across school and we are confident that our approach will ensure success for all, particularly, the lowest 20% of pupils.

Early Phonics interventions are put in place throughout EYFS and KS1 with the aim of children "keeping up" rather than "catching up". Phonics interventions also occur in KS2 for those children who still need phonics support.

Our Reading books are fully phonetically decodable up to orange book band to allow children to apply their phonic knowledge and practise their blending skills.

Children only read books containing sounds that they know

How we teach Early Reading

1:1 Reading
Throughout EYFS and KS1, children regularly read to teachers and teaching assistants on a 1:1 basis. Children use our school phonics mats and decoding strategies mats to help them. Children requiring support in KS2 read to an adult during ERIC time.

Children learn that phonics is the primary decoding strategy

Reading volunteers also support with 1:1 reading across school. These adults are trained BY OUR EARLY READING LEAD on our phonics scheme and decoding strategies.

How we teach reading

Whole Class Shared Reading

Whole class reading is introduced towards the end of Year 2 and is continued across KS2. This approach is based on the work of Doug Lemov and the Transform Trust. Daily shared reading sessions improve children's ability to understand challenging texts through carefully selected novel studies as well as focusing on the key reading skills and strategies (VIPERS) required to be confident readers.

Core Texts are read to support the wider themes of the curriculum, expose children to challenging and interesting texts and are also used for shared reading.

Teachers model expert reading of texts a year to 18 months above the year groups reading age, exposing children to vocabulary and complexity they would not normally read.

Children are exposed to a wide variety of texts that support their learning; these may be poems, information texts, short stories or excerpts from longer books.