Reading
Our Whole Class Reading leader is Mr Lomax and our Early Reading/Phonics leader is Mrs Oxlade.
At East Ward Community Primary School, we aim to enable our pupils to read confidently, fluently, accurately and with understanding through a variety of discreet and cross-curricular learning opportunities. Reading, and literature, is at the heart of our Learning Challenge Curriculum. We are dedicated to enabling the children to become lifelong readers and leave the school with the skills needed to achieve academic success. It is vital that we close the ‘1 million+ word gap’ to allow all of the children we teach to be exposed to a literacy-rich environment. Each Learning Challenge unit is designed with core text that is used to make links between the learning across the curriculum. In addition to this, the texts that are used in Whole Class Reading are chosen as they link to the Learning Challenge, meaning connections are constantly being made by the children and the schema is strengthened.
Whole Class Reading
Children in Year 2 (upon completing Read, Write, Inc.) to Year 6 take part in daily reading lessons. Children are exposed to a range of challenging texts and are taught the skills for reading. Teachers select texts that allow children to make connections with the knowledge from each Learning Challenge or texts that support the themes covered in our PSHE curriculum, as well as a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Teachers plan for opportunities for children to engage in purposeful discussions about texts and support the development of speaking and listening skills whilst widening the children’s vocabulary.
Accelerated Reader
It's all about practice. Accelerated Reader encourages substantial differentiated reading practice with the aim of creating strong, fluent readers based on each child's independent reading level. Children spend time accessing Accelerated Reader each morning. Teachers and support staff move around the classroom listening to the children reading and use this as an opportunity to model and guide children to improve. Each child has their own login to MyOn, where they are able to access a plethora of texts from home.
‘Keep Up not Catch Up’
We aim for every child to be exposed to challenging, age-related texts to support the progress children make in reading, however, in order to close the gap in reading, we provide interventions that enable children to ‘keep up not catch up’. In Key Stage 2, these interventions are delivered through daily RWI sessions, reading sessions following the RWI Fresh Start Program or PiXL reading groups.
'30 Reads Before You Leave'
Each year group has '30 Reads Before They Leave' and will be able to select one a week to take home. Each year group's texts have been created using a wide range of age-appropriate and accessible books across a range of genres and styles, including picture books for all year groups. For our older children who may take longer than a week to read each text, the recommended reads have been chosen to cater for all children to help capture their interest and continue to develop a love for reading. Children can chose from fiction, traditional texts, non-fiction and poetry. We encourage parents to support their child with reading at bedtime and enjoys books together as a family.
Supporting your child with their reading at home
At East Ward, we encourage children to read at home with a family member each day. Every child has a Reading Record which is signed by staff in school and should be signed when they read at home. We celebrate reading through a variety of different ways, including weekly Star Reader Certificates which are awarded to a child from each class for showing an improvement or commitment to reading. Star Readers are able to visit the Reading Vending Machine to select a book to take home and keep!
Please click on the link for Top Tips on how to support your child with their reading at home:
