The importance of reading

‘Reading gives us wings’

The teaching of reading is essential to ensure high standards of language and literacy. By equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, children will develop a love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment and purpose.

Our Ambition

We aim to ensure that all children will:  

• Read easily, fluently and with good understanding.
• 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 for reading, writing and spoken language.
• Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage.
• Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
• Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas.
• Are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
• Ensure that readers are supported to close the gap to maintain progress

Curriculum Intent

Learn to read and read to learn!

Reading is a key tool for life and is the single most important indicator of future success across all subjects.  Children at St Barnabas school can access a wealth of reading books and materials at every stage– supported by our rich and very well-resourced school library (visited once a week by all classes)  ensuring that they have a broad and rich reading experience.  Each class has a designated space to immerse themselves in reading in their classroom providing wings to fly! We relish opportunities to celebrate reading and books, for example our celebrations on world book day, where we have a character procession and a book swap. We  know that not everyone begins reading at the same starting point and that becoming a reader and enjoying reading can take longer for some children. Rigorous assessments ensure that we know where children are and what to offer our readers next, further enhanced by opportunities for reading for now and the future.

We are ambitious for all readers, including those who are eligible for pupil premium ( and disadvantaged), special needs, English as an additional language and most able learners, ensuring that we adapt the delivery of the curriculum, considering their different needs . The enhanced support and challenge we provide, offers learning without limits.

Intent: How do we teach reading at St Barnabas school?

Reading is taught through a variety of approaches including:

• Phonics
• One to one
• Groups
• Whole class
• Reading at home
• Library 
• Regular reading book

Early reading and phonics:

We have selected an approved phonics and early reading scheme called Little Wandle Letters and Sounds which is sequenced to support early reading. www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk . Look at our Early reading and phonics pages by following the link on the previous page.

How we teach reading 

We are developing a St Barnabas reading spine to build a sequenced approach to exposing the children to a wide range of quality texts which will inspire them as readers now and have relevance in the future. Staff training ensures that teachers are competent to teach different skills in reading at different stages on the child’s reading journey.

Nursery: 

Children listen to nursery rhymes and explore them through chanting, singing and talking. Children listen to different sounds, make sounds and match these to familiar objects to make a connection. An understanding of stories and language is promoted through opportunities to talk throughout the day. Children are introduced to the visual formation of the letters (graphemes) which begin to have meaning as representing the sounds that are made. A hands-on approach is delivered, using real objects to support all learners. A wide range of picture and word books are used to support understanding of early words, extend vocabulary development and enhance enjoyment and curiosity.

Reception Class and Year 1:

Phonics sessions are delivered daily (including a weekly review session). Three  practice reading sessions take place each week, using a matched ability reading book ( Little Wandle reading scheme) which is then sent home to ensure embedding of phonics code, fluency and understanding. The practice reading sessions focus on decoding, prosody and comprehension.  Stories are read to the children for pleasure and to enhance vocabulary and enjoyment. Children listen and discuss stories regularly throughout the week, read by the class teacher.  Book discussions take place throughout the week and we ensure that the children are read to throughout the week. Children take home a reading for pleasure book weekly. Regular assessments ensure that children who are at risk of falling behind are identified quickly and support is robust.

Year 2:

In year 2, the phonetic code is reviewed and the children are assessed for gaps in their learning, ensuring rapid, effective intervention. Children learn to complete the code, using a ‘bridge to spelling’ which is part of the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme. In reading children continue to develop their fluency and comprehension. Once they have completed the spine of fully decodable books, they move onto our Big Cat fluency series. For those who are not ready, they can progress onto the Little Wandle7+ books to continue to practice and secure the phonetic code.   For older children, often new arrivals from overseas, assessments help to fit them into our early reading programme. As in year 1, prosody and comprehension remain important skills in learning to read. Class books ensure that children are listening to a variety of genres and that opportunities for developing language and exposure to different texts. Whole class reading is delivered three times a week in addition to any catch up or keep up groups.

Year 2-6:

Once children have achieved a necessary level of fluency they move onto our KS2 programme of reading. From Years 2-6 reading is taught as a whole class. In reading lessons, pupils are explicitly taught strategies including inference, questioning, clarifying, summarising, prediction and activating prior knowledge. The pupils use these strategies to check how well they comprehend what they have read and overcome barriers to comprehension. Pupils develop skills in skimming and scanning, forming opinions, thinking aloud, asking questions, getting the main idea of a text, connecting to prior knowledge, inference, precising and prediction. These skills are practised and applied by the pupils with increased independence when interacting with texts across all curriculum areas. Pupils are exposed to a rich and varied reading curriculum which helps them develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially, and spiritually. We ensure that the needs of readers are met through rigorous assessment so that those who need further practice at the earlier stages of reading are given the appropriate opportunities to do so. 

Adaptations are made through high quality teaching (using the St Barnabas teaching and learning framework) to promote reading for all. Our writing framework (see below) is built  on a variety of rich texts (including factual writing, fiction and poetry) which are based on the Hampshire writing progression framework. We are developing a whole school reading spine (to be uploaded shortly).  Staff training ensures that teachers are competent to teach different skills in reading.

Teachers plan a three week writing unit based on the text see below. The reading elements is summarised here:

Step 1 Reading the text is introduced and the genre explored and  compared with previous texts from previous learning

Step 2 Reading the text as a reader where the focus is on language and vocabulary which is explored in an analytical way. 

Step 3. Reading as a writer – using the skills and knowledge learned from reading the text and analysing it the new knowledge is transferred  to creating their own compositions.

Reading is enhanced further through a myriad of linked texts from our accompanying writing strategy called Opening Doors which uses literacy heritage texts as the stimulus for excellent learning.  https://www.nace.co.uk/blogpost/1761881/483997/Opening-doors-to-ambitious-primary-English-key-principles-and-strategies

This engaging strategy puts the emphasis on pupils producing quality writing, developing their literacy skills and love of reading in the process. We use it to build opportunities for reading enhancement, leading to ideas for writers, inspired by great writers. Through this we aim to create writers who are  beyond the limit …. and have wings to fly.

Curriculum implementation 

Through high quality teaching we create successful, fluent, readers who will monitor their understanding of what they are reading and review the text when something does not make sense. Good teaching is underpinned by our teaching and learning framework which ensures that the needs of all learners are considered. Using principles of best practice for the disadvantaged, SEND, EAL and the most able, we are ambitious for all through clear instruction with well scaffolded learning.  Children who require further support receive effective reading interventions alongside high quality teaching to ensure that they remain motivated and make progress in fluency and decoding.

Reading at home

Parent reading workshops are held throughout the year to ensure that parents are informed about how they can help their children with reading and the support that is available in and outside of school.  This includes information about what to do if you are worried about your child as a child with English as an additional language or children who have reading difficulties.

We encourage and expect our children to read every day at home. All children have a reading record that is taken home daily. This is a journal that children and parents can fill in together which is regularly checked by class teachers. We understand that some children enjoy to read independently, in addition to reading with an adult. On these occasions, KS2 children can independently fill out their reading records.

We feel that it is important for children to regularly read with an adult (in addition to reading independently – if they can) so that discussions and joint exploration can take place around the text.

It is important that children experience a wide range of texts, so please encourage your child to read as widely as possible. For example works by different authors, comics, graphic novels, picture books, novels and age-appropriate newspaper reports/articles.

Reading books and record books should be kept in the pupil’s school bag, and brought to school each day. Children may also borrow a library book to enjoy at home and visits to the school library take place once a week.

What are the benefits of reading?

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/what-we-do/impact-and-research/Research/the-benefits-of-reading/

Some useful links to help promote a love of reading with your child:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/making-time-for-books-at-home

Curriculum impact 

• All children are able to access the curriculum through reading independently
• All children  have access to high quality texts which will inspire a love of reading and acquisition of new vocabulary
• All children can speedily work out the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding)  and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. 
• All children can use their linguistic knowledge (in particular of vocabulary and grammar) to support their  knowledge of the world. 
• All children develop comprehension skills through high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction. 
• All children are encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum. 
• All children encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech, through being exposed to a rich vocabulary. 
• All children have the skills to read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

Monitoring and assessment 

Children’s learning is assessed continually in  line with our Assessment Framework and our Teaching and learning Framework. In lessons, teachers quickly identify when further support or challenge is needed through a range of assessment and learning strategies. In addition to this, children who require further support in reading are assessed at the end of a course of intervention or when a progress concern has been raised. Children have a reading record book, which is used to track and monitor the child’s selection and engagement with reading at home. The reading lead monitors the impact of the reading curriculum by reviewing pupil impact discussion, learning walks, work scrutiny and talking to children and teachers.

Writing

The importance of developing excellence in written communication for success in English cannot be overstated. The vast majority of St Barnabas pupils will develop a high level of competence in writing by the end of Key Stage 2 and we hope that they will all continue to speak of the pleasure they take in the creative process of writing.

Ambition

Our ambition for pupils is that they will be “readers that write, and writers that read.” They will remember how it feels to be amazed by something they have read and want and be able to create this feeling in other readers. We also want all children to leave St Barnabas able to use their writing skills to communicate effectively in different contexts, including various academic subjects and in their wider lives.

Curriculum Intent

Our intent is that all pupils will be fully immersed in a range of high-quality texts and be able to access these equitably, through high-quality discussion. They will be able to write both fiction and non-fiction for a range of purposes and audiences and adapt their use of vocabulary and grammar with a specific reader in mind.

Curriculum Implementation

At St Barnabas, we use the Hampshire 3-phase planning model: Stimulate and generate; Capture, sift and sort; Create, refine, evaluate. During the ‘stimulate and generate’ phase, we focus on engagement, building vocabulary, thematic understanding and contextual knowledge. In the ‘capture, sift and sort’ phase, we focus on teaching, modelling and developing key skills and processes linked to ‘ingredients’ (success criteria). Finally, in the ‘create, refine, evaluate’ phase, we plan extended outcomes, draft, edit and refine. We use this model in conjunction with our ‘St Barnabas Top 10’ Teaching and Learning Policy to personalise it to our unique context. Through our work with the National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE), we have also carefully selected some ‘Opening Doors’ units to ensure our curriculum has no ceiling, so that our children can truly “soar on wings like eagles”.

Curriculum Impact

As children move through our school exposed to a range of high-quality texts linking to a range of their interests, we hope that they will develop a love of reading and writing that will last a lifetime. Of course, like any school, we want to ensure that as many of our children as possible are working at at least the Expected Standard by the time they leave us. But we also want to create the authors, journalists and playwrights of the future.

Monitoring and Assessment

The impact of the curriculum is evaluated through continuous and systematic assessment and monitoring. Children’s learning is assessed throughout lessons so that teachers can quickly identify misconceptions and give further support or challenge when needed. At the end of each unit of teaching, children’s knowledge is assessed against how well the writing craft taught has been applied into their final redrafted piece. Some writing outcomes are carefully chosen to become published pieces so that children can feel the truest sense of pride in what they have achieved, such as for displays around the school and/or for sharing with an audience. Parents are informed of their children’s learning in English through parent meetings and the annual report to parents.

The subject leader monitors the impact of curriculum using assessment information, by observing teaching, by looking at children’s work and by talking to children and teachers. The link governor monitors the work of the subject leader through visits, presentations, workshops and by talking to the children.