Reading

Reading

Barnham Broom CofE VA Primary School puts reading at the heart of the curriculum. We strive to foster a love of reading at school and at home. We believe reading is an entitlement that should enable children to connect with some of the finest words ever written. It should open up a world of possibility and intrigue and is a fundamental life skill which enables children to communicate effectively in all areas and equips them for the challenges they will face in the wider world. 

We aim to have pupils leave Barnham Broom CofE VA Primary School as lifelong readers, who have an instilled love for reading in them. In order to do this, children are encouraged to read widely and are exposed to a variety of genres. Reading across all subjects within the curriculum will prepare pupils for life beyond the Primary Classroom, where they will be taking with them the skills required for in-depth reading and analysing.

Speaking and listening is prioritised in order to build vocabulary for all learners in order to understand more complex texts.  We intend that our pupils will be both independent and reflective readers who can read fluently and for meaning.

We provide rich, meaningful discussions around texts, where all children feel confident and able to contribute by using their reading skills to access all areas of learning.

We use approaches that encourage children to spot clues and apply strategies to understand texts at a deep level.

We bring reading to life and give it purpose using music, drama and performance.

Implementation: 

Continuity and Progression in Reading

Reception

At the end of the Foundation Stage the pupils will have experienced, shared, guided and independent reading and learned the routines and responsibilities which enable the class to operate efficiently and effectively. Building on what pupils already know about reading and stories, the teacher helps develop early reading behaviours and concepts about print through shared reading, e.g. following the text from left to right, knowing that print carries meaning, identifying the protagonists in a story, recognising signs and symbols in environmental print. The pupils develop curiosity and enthusiasm about print. They are able to select, read and talk about a range of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. They have many stories told and read to them and they have opportunities to retell narratives themselves. The focus, particularly at the early stage, is on developing understanding and conveying meaning of the texts they read rather than reading words accurately.

Key Stage One

At Key Stage 1 the emphasis is on developing pupils’ interest and pleasure as they learn to read independently and with confidence. They focus on words and sentences and how they are put together to form texts. They bring meaning to the texts they read and share likes and dislikes about them. Enlarged texts, selected from the appropriate range of texts – fiction and non-fiction – are used for shared reading at Key Stage 1. Teachers model a range of reading strategies, including the identification of sentence structure and the accuracy of punctuation marks and teach specific vocabulary whilst giving pupils opportunities to practise phonic skills and word recognition in context. Alongside this, comprehension skills and strategies are taught.

Key Stage Two

At Key Stage 2, pupils meet a wide range of texts in fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. Teaching focuses on developing pupils’ reading skills, e.g. generalising and making inferences by drawing on evidence from the text. There continues to be a high level of interaction between teacher and pupils, with pupils sharing individual responses and interpretations.

The text chosen offers a challenge to all pupils in the class. The texts chosen are of a high quality and children can follow as the text is read to them through having a book individually or with a partner or can read independently / in groups. The children undertake tasks to deepen their understanding of the text. Sometimes these work best before the reading of the text (e.g. raising questions/ predictions / clarifying vocabulary). At other points it will take place after pupils have close / layer read together and with teachers facilitating to allow them to dig deeper into the text and widen their skills such as developing inference, viewpoint and authors choice of language.

See below for some useful comments which you can use when hearing your child read. It can be useful to be familiar with the statements for your child's year group so that you are able to further encourage them with their reading.