Reading
Purpose of study
English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.
To go directly to the National Curriculum for English (including reading), please click on the attached link: National curriculum in England: English programmes of study - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Our Reading Lead is:
Mrs Angie Ricketts
Intent
Overall Intent
At Upton St James (USJ), we aim to promote the habit of reading widely and often so that we can ‘Rise to our best’.
We are determined that:
• Every pupil will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities.
• All pupils, including the weakest readers, make sufficient progress to meet or exceed age related expectations.
• Children are able to develop vocabulary, language comprehension, and a love of reading through stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction.
• Children are familiar with, and enjoy listening to, a wide range of stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction.
• The Phonics Programme (Read Write Inc.) matches or exceeds the expectations of the national curriculum and the Early Learning Goals.
• Staff have clear expectations of pupils’ phonics progress term by term, from EYFS to Year 6 as appropriate. Pupils are provided with phonics support in KS2 according to need.
• The sequence of reading books shows cumulative progression in phonics knowledge that is matched closely to the school’s phonics programme. Children have access to phonetically decodable books. Accelerated Reader is used in KS2.
• Teachers will give pupils sufficient practice in reading and re-reading books that match the grapheme phoneme correspondences they know, both in school and at home.
• Reading, including the teaching of systematic, synthetic phonics, is taught from the beginning of Reception.
• Ongoing assessment of pupils’ phonics progress is sufficiently frequent and detailed to identify any pupil who is falling behind the programme’s pace. If they do fall behind, targeted support is given immediately.
• All staff have regular training in the teaching of phonics and reading to ensure confidence and competence.
• Children are exposed to a breadth of high-quality texts during the writing teaching sequences which includes text analysis and deconstruction with rich opportunities for collaborative, and independent writing.
Intent for Developing Children’s Love of Reading
We give all children the opportunity to enter the magical worlds that books open up to them by reading for pleasure as part of our reading curriculum and wider curriculum. We aim to ensure that:
• Children are encouraged to develop their own love of genres and authors and to review their books critically.
• Children gain a deep love of literature across a range of genres, cultures and styles
• We have a reading culture where children are exposed to a range of high-quality texts in a variety of contexts and have opportunities to browse literature, as well as structured reading activities.
• Children build preferences in reading and choose to read a variety of texts.
• Children recognise individual authors and styles of reading that they enjoy.
• Children engage in book discussion and book talk in a range of contexts, alongside both adults and peers, linking to reading skills that they are familiar with.
• Children are given the opportunity to share and recommend a range of books.
Implementation
Our implementation is set out in our reading progression document.
• Well-chosen and engaging curriculum texts and for reading for pleasure links
• Links made across the curriculum using high quality texts and genres (e.g. newspaper reports, non-fiction texts)
• Engaging class book corners
• High quality whole class stories
• Focus on maintaining high quality, interesting and well-matched books in the library (AR link)
• Annual book fair to promote new books available as well classic texts
• Promotion of reading during World Book Day and involvement of parents to share a love of books
• Sharing books in assembly and among classes, phases and whole school, including author visits
• Class visits to the local library / assemblies from the library service
• Parental engagement and involvement – reading at home and use of reading logs
Impact
We practise the scripture 'Love your neighbour as yourself' (Mark 12 v30-31) through our shared love of reading. Our community of enthusiastic readers enjoy showcasing their ever-developing skills, discussing and sharing their ideas and offering book recommendations for others. Reading at home has also flourished as children enjoy the books that they are reading, share these at home and demonstrate an understanding of them through the use of quizzes. A rich language culture is evident across the school and the motto ‘Read like a writer and write like a reader’ underpins this.