Reading
Early reading in EYFS and KS1 is taught using the Read Write Inc. phonics programme and weekly 1:1 reading sessions. 1:1 tuition and more regular reading is arranged for children who are reading below the expected level or struggling to make progress. All children take home a RWI reading book at the appropriate level as well as a reading book from the library of their own choice. Phonics lessons are also made available online as part of the children’s homework. All children are carefully assessed on a half-termly basis (more regularly if needed) and grouped accordingly. Whole class story time takes place at least daily and is carefully planned to ensure that the children are enjoying a variety of high-quality texts.
KS2 Reading is taught through daily (30-40 minutes) Destination Reader sessions with a Big Picture session taking place on a Friday that teaches children how to answer comprehension questions. Each DR session introduces new vocabulary and children are taught to reflect on texts using a variety of reading strategies including inference, prediction and making connections. There are many opportunities for children to discuss high quality texts and read independently with their talk partners. ‘Selfies’ are used to capture evidence of children using the reading skills and these are kept in their personal reading albums.
Each class has a high-quality fiction text to focus on each half term and these are supplemented with other non-fiction (usually relating to topic lessons) and poetry texts.
Children take home a reading book of their choice from the school library and, where appropriate, a Big Cat book to support their reading development. All books will be monitored regularly to ensure children are reading at the appropriate level.