READING
At Stuart Road Academy, we champion every child as a reader. We understand that reading capability is essential for our pupils to be able to access their learning. We recognise that reading capability has significant implications for their lives after they finish school. Therefore, reading underpins our curriculum so that we improve the literacy capability, habits and skills of our pupils for life.
LEARNING TO READ
Reading is at the centre of every child’s learning at Stuart Road Primary Academy and our school is determined that every child will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities. We will champion every child’s right to be a reader - every child will read every day. We aim to develop active readers who enjoy being members of our reading community. We expect all pupils to make at least good phonics progress every term through our phonics programme until they are confident readers. From Reception onwards, our approach to teaching reading begins with the goal of establishing a love of books within each and every child. English is flooded throughout our provision with carefully selected, relevant texts displayed and accessible in every learning zone. Alongside this, our book corners are purposefully organised so that children can select and have ownership over their reading choices and learn how to look after and treasure books. The books which are available very much reflect the personalities and interests of the cohort.
Read, Write, Inc.
In Early Years, Year 1 and into Year 2, our children are taught to read using the high quality systematic synthetic phonics programme Read, Write, Inc. (RWI). Children are taught consistently to use phonics as the route to reading unknown words. At this stage, we introduce the opportunity for pupils to have sufficient practice in reading and re-reading books that match their progress level both at home and in school. Children bring home a levelled ORT book with phonetically decodable words to build on skills developed in Read Write Inc. sessions and increase their independence and confidence. Children will re-read a book three times to ensure mastery, fluency and comprehension. Alongside this, they will bring home a book selected from the class book corner which can be shared and enjoyed with a family member. Through this text, skills such as fluency and expression can be modelled and developed alongside a realisation of the joy that reading for pleasure can bring. See our RWI page for further information.
READING TO LEARN
From Year 2 and 3, our children will read to learn. They will learn comprehension skills using a high-quality whole class guided reading programme, increase their reading fluency through daily practice, listen to a high-quality class reader and reading for pleasure in school and at home. In Year 4, 5 and 6, our children will deepen their reading capability through mastery of comprehension strategies and engaging with a wide range of high-quality texts.
Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension skills are taught daily through the use of high-quality resources. Children learn through a two-week reading block based on a vibrant and stimulating book. These carefully selected texts form the basis of a word and vocabulary rich learning experience that allows pupils to become fluent and accurate readers who have strong comprehension skills. During each block, the children are taught reading skills through the class VIPERS (Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explain, Retrieval and Summarise). In each session, new vocabulary is defined and discussed, story plots and events are predicted, facts explained, and character’s actions and feelings inferred. We also teach comprehension skills using an interactive modelling programme that allows teachers to take pupils step-by-step through a range of texts and comprehension questions. Pupils are guided through a whole class reading comprehension, discussing strategies and identifying comprehension skills to ensure that every pupil is confident and successful. Pupils then apply their learned skills through independent practice.
A model text is used in English lessons as part of the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach. Your child may read the complete novel, or an abridged version, in order to support them in writing their own story in the same genre / style.
Accelerated Reader
All children who have completed RWI read books which are linked to the Accelerated Reader (AR) scheme. AR is a computer program which helps teachers manage and monitor children’s independent reading practice. Your child picks a book at his / her own level and reads it at his / her own pace. When finished, your child takes a short quiz on the computer. Passing the quiz is an indication that your child has understood what they have read. The children can read a book from home but please check if the book has an Accelerated Reader quiz using the following link:
Fluency Reading
Fluency is an important ingredient of reading comprehension once children have a sound knowledge of phonics. Children should be able to read quickly and accurately with good intonation and phrasing so that their attention can focus on comprehension and meaning. Additional support in small groups or 1:1 is delivered where needed to ensure that all children make quick progress.
Our end of KS1 expectation is that in age appropriate books, a year 2 pupil should read words accurately and fluently without overt sounding and blending at a rate of over 90 words per minute. Our end of KS2 expectation is that pupils should be able to read aloud a wide range of poetry and books written at an age-appropriate interest level with accuracy and at a reasonable speaking pace. They should be able to read most words effortlessly and to work out how to pronounce unfamiliar words with increasing automaticity. Pupils should be able to read 90-120 words per minute.
Read Aloud
Our whole school participates in a daily Read Aloud Project when staff read a range of literature to broaden children’s experience of reading, build their vocabulary, deepen their understanding and grow their love of reading. During these reading sessions, we aim to build a shared experience of high-quality texts that stretch the children’s reading experience as well as their imagination and help every child build a bank of inner stories and develop a love of reading. Beyond our termly set texts using the Pie Corbett spine, children take part in a democratic process of choosing their read aloud book. This encourages them to be active members of their reading community and to make considered choices about which books they enjoy.
We create different environments where reading aloud can happen. This might include the library, the playground, a story-telling chair, in or out of the classroom, as part of a special school event, by invitation in to another class. We aim to invite a variety of readers to read aloud with the children, including children from other classes, other staff, governors, executive management, parents/carers/other family members. Through the year, we create opportunities to invite family members to share in whole school reading events such as Book-at-Breakfast, encouraging all our family visitors to wear pyjamas and bring their favourite books (and some breakfast) to share.
Reading for Pleasure
Every classroom has a reading corner for children to engage with and enjoy a selection of books individually or together. Reading for pleasure takes place at regular opportunities through the week.
We are a community of readers where all children and adults enjoy reading. Children are given opportunities to make choices as readers and to feel excited in talking about books and regularly talk about their reading. Through our reading journals and daily menu of reading activities, children and adults can enjoy a range of reading environments in which they can exercise their rights as readers and can respond to their reading in different ways.
If you would like any help or advice about how to help your child or develop your own knowledge of the reading curriculum, please see me or your child's teacher.
Mrs Hannon
English Lead