Reading

Statement of Intent – Reading at Flitwick Lower School

Intention

At Flitwick Lower School we believe that all of our children can become fluent readers and we aim to develop a genuine joy in reading for pleasure. Reading is integral to accessing the wider curriculum and enabling children to become successful learners. At Flitwick Lower School, reading is our passion and is embedded throughout the school in a variety of ways including; reading corners, book clubs, reading initiatives and through the shared experience of reading in class.

Implementation

Reading at Flitwick Lower School

Reading is taught in a range of different ways including whole class guided reading, small group reading, 1:1 reading as well as reading across the curriculum. Reading is embedded in the curriculum and children are given opportunities to read throughout the school day.

In Pre-school and Foundation, reading begins with a focus on developing active listening, communication and language skills, and phase 1 phonics. In Foundation, the children share lots of rich text and stories as whole class, with a focus on enjoyment and comprehension. 

Our whole-class guided reading programme is delivered across the school using a range of exciting, interesting texts. We understand the importance of children listening to the teacher read to help them to develop the skills to read aloud with fluency and expression. Whole class reading takes place on a daily basis and is based on the 6 reading domains – VIPERS (Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval, Sequence/Summarise). In addition to this, children participate in reading aloud through echo reading, choral reading and paired reading to support them in developing their fluency.

Throughout the school children are listened to by the teacher on a 1:1 basis or within small groups. This enables children to read books matched to their reading ability and to practise the reading skills they learn in whole class guided reading sessions.

All children take home books which reflect their phonic knowledge or their reading ability. We have a range of books that match the phonics phase being taught as well as a range of books that are colour-banded in line with the national book bands for children to choose from.

The joy of reading

Throughout the school we are passionate about developing the children’s excitement for reading and to inspire them to want to read independently. The children regularly take part in a ‘Book Vote’, providing a purposeful opportunity for children to be actively engaged in choosing the stories we share, with the aim to develop a deeper connection to literacy and a love of books from an early age.

We also run a reading book club at various times of the year during lunchtime for children to spend time reading a book or magazine of their choice in the school library.

Every classroom has an inviting reading corner where children can spend time reading books of their choice.  In pre-school, Foundation and Year 1 this is part of the continuous provision. Practitioners in the Early Years spend lots of time reading aloud with the children to strengthen emotional connections and bonds. Through these positive shared experiences, we provide children with feelings of attention, security and reassurance, which is key for nurturing positive growth and wellbeing. 

We also allow children, with some guidance, to choose their own reading book to take home from the phonics set they are working in or the book band that they have moved to. This ensures children are reading books they are interested in and look forward to sharing at home. All children have the opportunity to visit the library once a week to select a book of their choice and to enjoy a story-time session.

Reading is supported with a range of events including world book day, reading challenges and reading initiatives.

Developing reading skills:

To develop skilled readers we use the ‘Simple view of Reading model’ and support children in developing in two areas:

• Word recognition
• Language comprehension

All children are assessed against these two strands and intervention is targeted to develop the area of need.

Reading at home

To further develop reading skills it is essential that children read at home, we support parents with this by providing appropriate reading materials for them to use at home. We provide a home communication book which includes prompts and questions for parents to use whilst reading with their child. Key words and spellings are sent home weekly for the children to practice to help them develop their fluency in reading.

Reading in the different phases

Early Years

In pre-school children enjoy different activities to develop their early reading skills including singing nursery rhymes, playing games and listening to a range of different stories in a shared experience. This enables them to hear different sounds, understand what a story is, join in with familiar phrases and learn new vocabulary.

As children transition to Foundation they read to a teacher at least once a week, using books that match their level of knowledge, and children who require further support are heard more regularly. Children also participate in whole class shared reading to develop comprehension and vocabulary.

Reading in the Foundation Stage.pdf

Key Stage 1 and 2

Children are heard by the teacher every week either on a 1:1 basis or in small groups, and take home a book on a daily basis to match their phonic knowledge or reading ability. Guided reading sessions are delivered daily as detailed above to develop comprehension and vocabulary. The texts are selected to cover a range of genres with a wide range of rich vocabulary. The interests of the children are taken into consideration and where possible the texts compliment the termly topic.

There are numerous opportunities for the children to read across the curriculum and for a range of purposes. Every class has a dedicated story time at the end of the day where they are read to by an adult.

Impact

Children will be able to read fluently enabling them to read across the curriculum, supporting their learning in all subject areas.

Children will develop a lifelong skill where they choose to enjoy books independently.

Assessment is used to monitor progress and to quickly identify any children needing additional support. This is done in a number of ways:

Formative Assessment

• Daily within phonics lessons
• 1:1 reading or small group reading
• Ongoing notes during whole class guided reading sessions
• Observations during reading in class for different purposes. 

Summative Assessment

• Termly analysis – to assess progress and to compare different groups of learners.
• Simple view of reading quadrants – completed at 4 key periods of the year – October, January, March and July to identify children who require support in word recognition, language comprehension or both.
• Termly analysis to track the progress of readers who are not on track to meet ARE.
• Observations during the day in the learning environment