Reading At all saints
KS1 enjoying the 'Great British Read Off' where we join together to share our favourite story's with hot chocolate, biscuits and our teddies!
Reading
Our aim is for every child to become a fluent reader, with no exceptions. Reading is fundamental to the whole curriculum and our core aim is to develop proficient readers, who have a love of literature.
In KS1 , we promote a love of literature through our book trunks! Each week, 2 children have the chance to take home our special book trunks which are complete with a story to share, a hot chocolate, a cuddly teddy and a chocolate coin. We also include a notepad where children and parents can share their experience.
Reading in Reception, KS1 and KS2
In KS1 and Reception we now follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised is a phonics programme validated by the Department for Education. It has been developed by Little Sutton and Wandle English Hubs in partnership with other phonics and early reading experts. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised has been built around the update (Department for Education – Letters and Sounds improving rates of progress 2021) that were funded to produce by the Department for Education, as well as drawing on the latest research into how children learn best. It ensures learning stays in children’s long term memory and enables children to apply their learning to become highly competent readers.
The reading books for this scheme are by Big Cat Phonics for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. The books are matched perfectly to the Little Wandle progression and support all the Letters and Sounds phases. This progression is based on the DfE's publication 'Letters and Sounds: Improving Rates of Progress 2021'. There is an exciting mix of stories and non-fiction to foster a love of reading in all children.
In KS2, we use the VIPERS scheme, designed by Literacy Shed, to develop reading comprehension skills. The children study a different text, a range of fiction and non - fiction, each week and focus on the key reading strands: vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summary.
Reading sessions
In KS1, your child will be heard to read in a small group 3 times per week for 20 minutes. They will then bring the book that they have been reading in class home to practice.
In Ks2, your child will read out loud during their reading lesson daily, with an adult once a week and if they are identified as needing the extra support, they will be listened to daily by a member of teaching staff.
Supporting your child with reading
Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.
There are two types of reading book that your child may bring home:
A reading practice book. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child in KS1 and the correct colour band for your child in KS2. They should be able to read this fluently and independently.
A sharing book. Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.
Reading practice book
This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.
Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.
Sharing book
In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together.
Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun!
We also teach reading skills following the VIPERS format. Pupils read often and have weekly access to a range of books from our school library and daily access to our inviting class reading areas. Our reading scheme provides a wide range of high quality reading books, which include poems, stories and information texts.
To boost reading for pleasure in school further, each teacher has chosen an author to focus on during their class read time (15 minutes daily).
If you would like to know more about our reading scheme, or how you can help at home, please call into school and speak to your child’s class teacher.
Phonics
In the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One phonics is taught following Letters and Sounds. Letters and Sounds begins in nursery with phase 1, which involves listening to and matching sounds including everyday sounds within the environment. This then moves onto phase 2 which introduces the letter sounds and names of the alphabet. At this phase pupils are taught how to blend and segment sounds within words. Once pupils are confident with the letters and sounds of the alphabet they will be introduced to more complex sounds for example digraphs and trigraphs. A digraph is a single sound, or phoneme, which is represented by two letters and a trigraph consists of three letters.
As pupils progress into Year 2, spelling continues to be taught using Letters and Sounds guidance. Throughout school, pupils will be given spellings to learn at home on a weekly basis as part of their homework.
Phonics is taught through a short 20 minute session, which follows a sequence of revisit, teach and apply. Each phonics session provides pupils with the opportunity to practise and apply their phonic skills through reading and writing.
At the end of Year 1 pupils complete a statutory phonics screening task which assesses pupil’s phonic knowledge and ability to segment and blend sounds in order to read a range of real and nonsense words. Throughout the year we hold phonic workshops and meetings for parents to attend.
