Reading
Intent
A high-quality English curriculum is fundamental in order that children develop skills in reading, writing and oracy. Through reading, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised (NC - 2021)
The aim of reading at Frenchay is to promote high standards of literacy through our use of high-quality, engaging and aspirational texts where pupils achieve the following:
- Read easily, fluently and confidently, with good understanding across fiction, non-fiction and poetry
- Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
- Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions of reading, writing and spoken language
- Gain knowledge of a diverse range of authors and literature and appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
Implementation
We teach reading in the following ways:
- Little Wandle phonics programme
- Chris Such Guided Reading model
- Timetabled ‘reading for pleasure’ time
EYFS and Key Stage 1 – see phonics III
At Key Stage 2, reading at Frenchay is timetabled 5 times a week, for 25 minutes, using Chris Such’s model for guided reading. Novels will be used in both the reading lessons and also for reading for pleasure. The sequence of this will be as follows:
Year 3-5
1) Fluency Read
2) Extended Read
3) Close Read
4) Book club
5) Written comprehension
Year 6
1) Extended read
2) Close Read
3) SATS style questions to answer based on text
4) Book club
5) Written comprehension
Lessons will be mainly verbal but there should be a short writing element at some point during the week to ensure pupils are prepared for written assessments.
Terms 1, 3 and 5, narrative texts will be used.
Terms 2, 4 and 6, non-fiction and poetry will be used.
Intervention – Keep up not Catch up
Children who are not yet meeting age related expectations will be offered personalised intervention or focused support in class to support them to keep up. Interventions for word reading and phonics will follow the Little Wandle Catch-Up phonics programme..
Reading across the curriculum
Reading is woven into and across the curriculum. We believe that children should read as much as possible across the curriculum and we develop them to read as geographers, historians and scientists. All children are allocated a reading book to match their reading level. When children at Key Stage 2 reach the end of the levelled book and are assessed as ‘fluent’ are ‘free readers’ and choose their own books from the library or book corner with the guidance of their teacher.
Book corners are available in all classrooms and are stocked with a range of fiction and non-fiction books, as is our school library. Teachers are responsible for guiding children to choose their independent reading books.
Impact
Formative assessment
- Quality First Teaching
- In the moment assessment, addressing misconceptions straight away
- Children’s work in books
- Teacher and TA judgement when reading with children
Summative assessment
- NFER/SATs assessment papers for reading in Y2-6 carried out 3x a year (2x a year for year 1)
- Whole class phonics assessments in Reception and Year 1
- regular phonics assessments for children still requiring phonics support in Years 2 – 6.
Statutory
- Early Learning Goals (Comprehension and Word Reading)
- Year 1 phonics screening
- End of KS2 SATs reading papers
These enable us to see any children requiring additional support and also informs teachers’ planning.
At Frenchay Church of England Primary School we are passionate about ensuring all children become confident and enthusiastic readers and writers. We believe that phonics provides the foundations of learning to make the development into fluent reading and writing easier. Through phonics children learn to segment words to support their spelling ability and blend sounds to read words. The teaching of phonics is of the highest priority.
We start teaching phonics in Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
- We teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers.
- Children make a strong start in Reception: teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term.
- We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress:
- Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy.
- Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.
Through the teaching of systematic phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1. Children can then focus on developing fluency and comprehension throughout the school. Attainment in phonics is measured by the Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1.
