Scissett CE Academy
Reading
"I like being able to tell and find out about other people's stories" Year 5
"I love reading because you learn lots of words and it's a fun activity" Year 3
"It's fun because some books are non-fiction and we learn facts" Year 2
"I like chapter books when I am reading" Year 2
Learning to read is one of the most important things that your child will learn to do at Scissett CE Academy. As a school, we are striving to develop a culture for reading. We want our children to develop a love for reading a range of books, including fiction and non-fiction, but also have the knowledge of a range of amazing authors and their writing style. We are continuously updating the books within school to ensure children are reading books by up and coming authors, but also traditional books that still entice children, such as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Intent
At Scissett CE Academy we believe that all pupils should have the opportunity to be fluent, confident readers who are able to successfully comprehend and understand a wide range of texts. We want pupils to develop a love of reading, a good knowledge of a range of authors, and be able to understand more about the world in which they live through the knowledge they gain from texts. By the end of their time at primary school, all children should be able to read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education. We understand the importance of parents and carers in supporting their children to develop both word reading and comprehension skills, and so we want to encourage a home-school partnership which enables parents and carers to understand how to enhance the skills being taught in school through good quality texts.
Implementation
At Scissett CE Academy, we teach reading in both direct and indirect ways, developing a reading culture throughout school. We follow the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. Children are expected to read on various occasions, in a range of lessons to ensure that they are consistently applying the skills of fluency, inference and comprehension. We use Reading Records to record frequency and notes to help practice which every child should bring to and from school.
Within Early Years and Key Stage One, reading is promoted through the daily teaching of phonics. At Scissett CE Academy we use the DfE approved Phonic Scheme ELS. For more information on the teaching of phonics please see the separate Phonics section. As children travel through their phonic journey they will be provided with phonetic decodable books which suit their phonetic ability. The schemes used to match this phonic approach will include; Hero Academy, Alien Adventures and Traditional Tales, some of these are non-fiction texts.
To supplement this phonic approach each child will also receive a deepening read text. This text will be from a different range of schemes, some of which are phonically matched and others of which have been picked to extend vocabulary and comprehension skills. Teachers will help children and guide them through the colour banded series of books according to their specific needs. Children also take part in daily guided reading sessions. Within these sessions, children read in groups with adults, concentrating on phonetic ability, comprehension and vocabulary. When children are not reading, they are completing tasks which relate again to their phonics or comprehension based on the text they are reading. We also ensure children know the importance of looking after books and reading materials and recognise they can be used for different purposes. Children will regularly read one-to-one with an adult in their class. This regular practice ensures that children make a good and rapid progress. Reading books are sent home to be practised and the regular use of these ensures children achieve the age appropriate expectation.
In Key Stage 2, reading is planned into Book Study Sessions and reading lessons. We use VIPERS to help learn about the different reading strategies we need. Children within Key Stage 2 progress through the book bands within school, until becoming 'free readers'. As a free reader children will be guided into picking age appropriate challenging texts whilst building up a knowledge of authors and a love of reading.
Children also:-
- Take part in 1:1 reading with an adult at least once a week or fortnight. Those who are targeted readers, working specifically on a targeted skill, will read more frequently.
- Complete daily interventions with ETAs based on their educational need.
- Are provided with cross-curricular opportunities to read. At Scissett, we want our children to apply their reading skills through the curriculum. By having opportunities to read in various lessons and in different contexts, ensures that they are constantly and consistently applying their reading and phonetic knowledge as well as developing their understanding.
- Develop their vocabulary to be able to decipher what they are reading.
- Reading Buddies - Our Year 5 children are trained to read with the children in Key Stage 1. They are able to support them with their phonics, as well as question them and provide positive feedback. This happens once a week.
- Have enticing reading areas within each classroom to promote reading for pleasure, providing the opportunity to share them with their peers or read independently.
- Are exposed to teachers modelling reading on a daily basis. Each class has an author or text focus which they will read books from, Particularly in EYFS and Key Stage 1, children will be exposed to a range of text read at any opportunity throughout the day by the teacher or teaching assistant. Able to visit our library on a weekly basis. In Key Stage 2 children are able to take a book home weekly from the vast amount of books within our library.
- Have opportunities to meet real life authors and writers and listen to them explain how they write and create.
Our Reading Journey
As a school we have created a reading pathway of texts to be read and shared in each year group. We have selected these texts to enrich the curriculum and reading experiences, ensuring a range of genres and authors, themes and structures are met throughout the child's reading journey with us.
This reading journey is reviewed each year and class teachers will select from the pathway to fit the needs and interests of the class they have.
We work hard to ensure our Christian Values and diversity can link to many of the texts discussed.
Our Reading Scheme
We have made a significant investment in the reading schemes that match our new phonic scheme. As a school we also use a colour banding system for the children to progress through from Reception to Year 5, this includes a variety of texts both fiction, non-fiction, poetry and playscript. This is regularly updated to ensure children's interest is maintained through the series of colour bands. At our school children are moved between bands when they are ready to be moved. Here at Scissett reading is progressive. This is so that our children develop their reading skills to become fluent readers with a good understanding of the text and are able to infer and take into account a range of punctuation.
Please Click here for Reading at Scissett videos
Impact
At Scissett we want our children to become fluent readers who can read with clear understanding, intonation and expression. We want them to clearly understand the vocabulary, the context it is used within and the author's intention of impact on the reader. However, we also want them to develop a love for reading; one that excites them into reading a range of fiction and non-fiction books by authors that will become known to them throughout their primary experience. Children will enter Key Stage 2 from Key Stage 1 being able to use a range of strategies for decoding, relying on phonetic knowledge and other strategies. They will also be able to read for knowledge to extend their understanding of all subjects within the curriculum and communicate their research on a wider scale. We will assess phonics and reading skills regularly, both with formative and summative approaches. Where needed, intervention will occur to keep children on track.
What can parents do to help at home?
Within the first half term of starting Reception, you will be invited to a meeting so that we can explain how we teach reading at Scissett Academy and show you the resources and books that we use. During the meeting, there will be lots of suggestions on how you can help your child to read. Your support really does get your child off to a flying start and encourages them to make great progress!
You can help your child sound out the letters in words and then to 'blend' the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds.
Make reading fun! Remember to keep reading with your child. It's great to share a book! They will come across far more adventurous words than they will in their early reading books and you will be helping them grow a vast vocabulary and develop a deeper understanding of different stories. It will also encourage them to develop a love for reading and want to read more; if a child sees or hears an adult reading they are inspired by them. Reading alongside children of any reading ability can be a great way to show importance of reading and promote discussion.
Another great way to help children practise reading skills is to put subtitles on when watching television or films. This is a proven technique for increasing reading fluency and expertise, whilst enjoying another medium.
Here are some useful links to websites and documents to support reading at home:
Oxford Owl - Free online ebooks
Cbeebies - How to Help Your Child Read at Home
Reading & Phonics Documents
Scissett CE Academy Phonics Presentation
Scissett CE Academy Phonics Booklet for Home
Scissett CE Academy Reading Policy
The Scissett Reading Challenge
"The more that you read, the more things that you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go" Dr Seuss
As part of our approach to encouraging children to read more and a larger variety of reading materials, we have set up a reading challenge across our school. Mr Cunningham introduced it in one of our worship times, and each class has now been shown their own target cards. The aim is to read and achieve as many targets as possible. Each target must be checked at home and MUST receive a signature from an adult as proof that the target has been achieved.
"That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet" Jhumpa Lahiri
Who will be the first children to receive the bronze mention in our Celebration Assembly on Fridays? Will anybody be able to reach gold before the end of Summer?
"A book is a dream that you can hold in your hand" Neil Gaiman
Good luck and we hope that you enjoy all the different texts and books that you will be reading.
"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book " J K Rowling
Reading in Action
At Scissett CE Academy we believe that every opportunity to practise our reading skills should be taken. We try to make this as varied as possible so that children are reading to different audiences and people. We read as individuals and practise our comprehension skills. We are currently using VIPERS to help us improve in this area. We read as a class, especially in Key Stage 2 with some more challenging books, where we discuss events and the way that the text has been written. We have a class share session where we get the chance to read with either older or younger children. This can give us extra practise or allow us to perform our reading skills. We are very lucky to have a range of Reading Friends who come in to help some of us read more regularly. We may even sometimes read as a whole school in sessions such as Worship times. We know that reading is very important and we do not want to waste one chance to get better at it.
We Love Reading
We have started to collect favourite books from adults and children who work in our School Community. We will try to keep this updated and if there is a book that you would like to recommend make sure you listen for when the website will be updated and we will add some more to our gallery.
Recommended Reading And websites
One of the questions we often get is how can we practise reading at home or are there new books that you would recommend for us to buy to read at home. Please find detailed below a range of websites with activities and free resources; simply click the link to access the website. There are also recommended books for different reading ages. Please keep checking the Books Trust site as they update their reading lists on a monthly basis with new and exciting books which you may not know have been released. And remember reading can include magazines, blogs, newspapers, non-fiction texts. So, make sure you have access to a complete range. We hope that this helps.
BBC Nursery Songs - A collection of nursery songs from the Early Learning series Listen and Play and Playtime
Book Trust - Suggested books for children, advice om how to read with your child, book lists, fun games, competitions to win free books, Children's Book Club etc.
Love Reading - Expert recommendations and opening extracts of books
Oxford Owl - Phoncs advice and access to free E-books. Free to register.
Pearson - Publisher's website designed to give parents help and advice for reading with children
Phonics - A useful website featuring free resources for KS1 (and the option of subscribing)
Read for my School - Reading competition for Years 3-4 featuring a great range of books, including those for the struggling reader
RecommendedPhonics
Scissett CE Academy Phonics Presentation
Scissett CE Academy Phonic Booklet for Parents