The Teaching of Reading
How we Teach Reading at Victoria School.
Reading is the KEY TO UNLOCK LEARNING and, as such, a fundamental life skill. We place a huge amount of importance on the development of good phonological knowledge and the acquisition and strengthening of reading skills. The drive to improve reading skills at Victoria School is the responsibility of all staff.
Staff work cross phase in collaboration from Early Years, KS1 and KS2 to ensure that there is effective consistency and progression in the teaching of reading.
Reading is a priority therefore we have invested heavily in providing high quality reading resources throughout the school.
Nursery
Phonics
In Rainbow Nursery and 3 year old Nursery, there is a heavy focus on phase 1 phonics. Children will learn environmental sounds, take part in music sessions and sing nursery rhymes and songs. Children in the Nursery are first taught the pictures linked to the sounds using the RWI approach. The children then begin to learn set 1 sounds using the programme through daily lessons involve saying the sound, reading the sound and air writing the sound. Children are grouped so they access the programme at the appropriate level.
Exposure to texts
To expose the children to different texts, we have the Pie Corbertt Spine Collection, high quality texts linked to our half termly focus and No Outsiders in Our School stories. Story time is the up most important part of the nursery day. Staff read stories to the children at any given opportunity. Children in Nursery take home pleasure for reading books, a green speed sound book, and a RWI ‘My Reading and Writing Kit’. Children in the Rainbow Nursery take home a pleasure for reading story sack. Children can also access Oxford Reading Buddies, at home, online.
Reception
Phonics
In Reception, we make a strong start with phonics learning. The children begin to learn set 1 sounds using the RWI programme. Daily lessons involve saying the sound, reading the sound and writing the sound. The children are then assessed and grouped at their challenge point to further progress them in their phonics learning. As the children progress throughout the year, they will be introduced to set 2 sounds, then they will move through the coloured books. Word time enables the children to learn how to segment and blend words so they can read simple sentences. We aim to have the children reading the green books by the end of reception.
Children who are not making the expected progress will receive fast track 1:1 tutoring.
Exposure to texts
To expose the children to different texts, we have the Pie Corbertt Spine Collection, high quality texts linked to our half termly focus and No Outsiders in Our School stories. Children take home pleasure for reading books and a book linked to their phonetic ability. We also have a wide range of online reading platforms, including, Oxford Reading Buddies and myON. We ensure every child has quality story time every day.
KS1 (years 1 and 2),
Phonics
Children will be assessed at their challenge point for their phonetic ability and placed in a RWI group. Children receive an hours phonics lesson a day, which includes saying the sound, reading the sound, writing the sound, word time, spelling, and reading the story book with activities. We aim for children in year 1 to be on blue books by the end of the year, and children in year 2 to have completed the RWI programme and access Literacy and Language by spring term. Children who are not making the expected progress will receive fast track 1:1 tutoring.
Children complete a STAR reading test each half term to test their reading ability. This gives them a ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) score. Children then read stories linked to their ZPD and complete quizzes to test their comprehension.
Exposure to texts
To expose the children to different texts, we have the Pie Corbertt Spine Collection, high quality texts linked to our half termly focus and No Outsiders in Our School stories. Children take home pleasure for reading books, a book linked to their phonetic ability and a ZPD book (if they pass a STAR reading test). We also have a wide range of online reading platforms, including, Oxford Reading Buddies and myON.
KS1 use the Learning Challenge Curriculum. We use high quality texts linked to our key question to deepen children’s learning. We ensure every child has quality story time every day.
KS2 (years 3-6)
Phonics
Pupils are assessed and grouped by their ability depending on their RWI exit data from the previous year. Year 3 and 4 pupils will follow the RWI scheme with fidelity until they reach Literacy and Language and therefore no longer need the phonics programme. Literacy and Language is introduced in Year 3.
Phonics lessons each consists of a speed sound lesson and book work.
In a speed sounds lesson, pupils will:
· Be introduced to a new sound.
· Learn how to say it and select it from a selection of previously taught sounds.
· Find it in a word and use “Fred Talk” to segment and blend new words.
· Review words that include previously taught sounds.
· Read the new words with greater fluency.
· Spell the words that they have learnt in that lesson as well as words from previously taught sounds.
Book work includes:
· Speedy reading of sounds from the storybook.
· Reading green and red (tricky) words that appear in the story.
· Reading the story.
· Thinking about the story and sharing ideas with a partner.
· Answering questions about the story.
· Writing activities based on the story.
Pupils doing RWI will be assessed at the end of each half term and will be regrouped if required. Those needing additional phonics intervention will receive Fast Track tutoring to help them to close the gaps in their learning.
Pupil’s daily speed sound lesson videos from the Ruth Miskin website will be added to their portfolio for additional practice both in school and at home. Gaps in pupil’s phonic knowledge will also be posted in their portfolio as a speed sounds lesson video from the Ruth Miskin website.
Year 5 and 6 pupils who still require phonics will access the Fresh Start programme. They will be assessed at the start of the year and at the end of each half and will be grouped accordingly. Fresh start follows the same routine as above with the phonics programme with there just a subtle change in terminology used by the adults to make it more appealing for older children, i.e. “best friends” instead of “special friends.”
Exposure to texts
Through RWI, pupils will be exposed to a new text either every 3 days or 5 days depending on the group that they are in. They will work with this book, completing various activities based on it throughout the 3 or 5 days.
Pupils who’s reading age is below their chronological age will use Oxford Reading Tree books to give them a boost in their confidence in reading. They have access to a wide range of physical books which they can select from in school and they also have access to the “Reading Buddys” online eBook library. Reading Buddys helps children navigate their way through
the texts by having the option to have the book read to them. The programme sets comprehension questions for each text to improve retrieval and inference.
Pupils who’s reading age matches or exceeds their chronological age will read books that are within their ZPD range as set by half termly Accelerated Reader STAR assessments. Children once again have access to a wide range of fiction and non-fictions texts in our school library and also have access to the online reading platform, MyOn where they can again choose from an extensive e-library of fiction and non-fiction texts.
Comprehension skills are regulary taught through the RWI Literacy and Language programme, teachers also refer to VIPERS skills when reading texts to help focus pupils on the specific skills they need to answer questions:
V – Vocabular
I – Inteference
P – Prediction
E – Explanation
R – Retrieval
S – Summarise
Through “No outsiders in our school, teaching the Equality Act in Primary Schools.” Pupils will be taught about equality and inclusion with through 5 different texts. Each class has their own set of books, appropriate to each year group, supporting pupils with the issues that they may face in primary school. This set of PSHE based texts adds to the wide range of books that we offer to our pupils.
Each classroom has a reading area with a range of books made up of school owned books and books which the children have selected when they have received a visit from the library van. There are lots of opportunities for pupils to access these books throughout the day.
We believe that all pupils deserve a rich curriculum which encourages extensive reading of whole books and a rich diet of various text types including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We believe that active encouragement of reading for pleasure is a core part of every pupil’s educational entitlement, whatever their background or attainment. We believe that all staff should be ‘reading role models’ for pupils, encouraging them to read widely through recommendations from their own reading.
Each week a ‘Reading Hero’ from each class is chosen by teachers, pupils with this award are allowed to select a book that they can read and keep. Pupils that show their commitment to reading, pass accelerated reader quizzes or are spotted reading regularly are candidates for the weekly award, this criteria is shared with pupils.
