Reading

It is really important that children are able to read regularly and continue to read books at school and at home. Reading is a key factor in our recovery curriculum. All classes will also have a high quality text that they will together as a class reader. Reading is essential for wider curriculum success. Developing a love of reading and supporting the habit of reading is key, both to lifelong learning and ultimately for children’s life outcomes.

Teaching Reading

Phonics

We follow the Read Write Inc phonics schemes.

Read Write Inc. Phonics teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step. 

We start by teaching phonics to the children in the Reception class. This means that they learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but it also helps children learn to spell well. We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters. Ask them to show you what these are.

The children also practise reading (and spelling) what we call ‘tricky words’, such as ‘once,’ ‘have,’ ‘said’ and ‘where’.

The children practise their reading with books that match the phonics and the ‘tricky words’ they know. They start thinking that they can read and this does wonders for their confidence. 

Your child will bring home, or be asked to read online,  a RWI  book. These contain sounds and words the children know. This is the Storybook they have just read at school and maybe some they have read before, for extra practice. Please don’t worry that books are too easy. Children enjoy re-reading stories they know well. Their speed and understanding improves on every read.

Your child may also bring home a text that may contain words that they find more challenging to decode (a book band book or picture book). This is a text that you can read together for pleasure and encourage their ‘love for reading.’ This is a book that may require an adult at home to intervene with to support their developing reading skills.

The teachers read to the children, too, so the children get to know all sorts of stories, poetry and information books. They learn many more words this way and it also helps their writing.

More information for parents can be found here.

Reading Comprehension

In order to teach all aspects of word reading and comprehension through high-quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts, we use Steps to Read  whole class Shared Reading.

Steps to Read provides a clear teaching sequence to reading sessions that explicitly teach reading skills and strategies in a cumulative way through evidence-based approaches. These comprehensive units have been constructed so that the entire statutory curriculum for reading is covered from EYFS to Y6. 

The primary aim of Steps to Read is to teach reading comprehensions skills and strategies explicitly.

Steps to Read:

• Is sequenced, coherent and progressive
• Uses language-rich texts for vocabulary teaching
• Includes all elements of comprehension, taught sequentially across an academic year
• Has a clear focus on the skills and strategies needed to be a proficient and confident reader
• Uses engaging texts to promote a life-long love of reading
• Includes poetry, non-fiction and fiction that enhances knowledge learning across the curriculum