Reading
Intent
Reading feeds the imagination and opens a treasure house of wonder and joy for curious young minds.’(National Curriculum)
At Skelton Primary School, we believe that the ability to be able to read, along with the love of reading, is key to helping our pupils reach their full potential. We aim to equip our pupils with the necessary skills to decode words and to become confident, fluent readers. Our Curriculum is organised in a way that puts reading at the very heart of it; so that every ‘Big Idea’ is supported with high quality texts which enable our pupils to find out about the world that we live in, as well as be transported to worlds of imagination. In addition, high quality children’s literature runs alongside the teaching and learning of writing and children are encouraged to discover the joy in reading books by a wide range of authors including Emma Carroll, Ted Hughes, Charles Dickens, Nizrana Farook among others. Children are also encouraged to read poetry and to learn by heart poems for performance to different audiences.
“The best primary school in England teach virtually every child to read, regardless of social and economic circumstances of their neighbourhoods, the ethnicity of their pupils, the language spoken at home and most special educational needs or disabilities (Reading by the Age of 6)
Implementation
At Skelton, we aim to get children reading early: learning to read – reading to learn. There is a whole school approach to the teaching of reading to teaching phonics and reading. A range of reading strategies will be taught throughout all classes that reflect the requirements of the National Curriculum. We ensure that all children have equal access to the curriculum, regardless of gender, race, religion or ability. Children with specific reading, speech and language or hearing difficulties will be identified and supported through programmes in school and external help will be sought if necessary.
How do we teach reading?
- Language rich environment and direct teaching to develop oracy skills
- Direct teaching of synthetic phonics through the Read Write Inc programme
- Read and respond, reciting, story maps, book talk, whole class and shared reading
- Whole Class Reading (reciprocal reading)
- Independent Reading (choice of quality books from class library)
- Cross-curricular opportunities within whole school curriculum that develops cultural knowledges, general or world knowledge as well as subject specific knowledge.
- Reading celebrations – World Book Day, Star Reader Award
- Home Reading
- Library visits (internal and external)
Phonics and Early Reading
The teaching of phonics and early reading is underpinned by a high quality, discrete daily phonics programme ‘Read, Write Inc’ (RWInc) to develop the cumulative knowledge of phonics across the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), Key Stage One and into Key Stage Two for children who still need further support. In RWInc, the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into comprehending what they read. The aim of Read Write Inc. Phonics is for children to learn to read early. By the end of term 2 in Year 2 children should be able to read stories at over 100 words per minute.
Whole Class Reading
In Key Stage Two, whole class reading is taught as a structured approach to teaching reading comprehension. The class teacher pitches reading sessions high, while providing scaffolding to allow pupils to access the text with a focus on questioning, summarising, prediction and clarifying. Each year group has a uses a series of texts and a wide range of genre to support cultural knowledge, general or world knowledge as well as subject specific knowledge to develop comprehension.
Staff teach through; explanation, modelling, questioning and feedback. Feedback is folded into learning through follow-up questions.
Questions should be:
Personalised – more personal angle or evaluative response
Probing – pushing for more clarity or more depth
Challenging – require re-evaluation or justification for thinking
Bridging – more thinking across to other topics
Reflecting – questions ask about thinking or learning process behind idea or point
Extending – move pupils towards greater complexity or difficulty
Home Reading
The children who are taught RWInc, take home a home reader ‘book bag’ book. Read Write Inc. (RWI) home reading books, also known as Book Bag Books, are decodable, colour-banded books designed to reinforce classroom phonics learning at a child’s individual level. These books are matched to the RWI Storybooks and programme, providing children with extra practice to build reading skills and confidence. Parents and carers can use the notes on the inside cover for guidance on pre-reading activities, vocabulary checks, and comprehension questions to support home reading. The children also have access to e-books that match the book taught in the RWInc lessons.
Children who have completed RWInc, take home a book of their choice from the class library. Throughout the week, the children are given the opportunity to read some of their book in class or to an adult.
Classroom Reading Areas
The reading areas are available to children to promote the love of reading. Each area should have approximately thirty-five books which should be rotate termly.
- Range of genres
- Familiar books from previous years
- Home reader books
Class Book
Each class have an ongoing ‘class book’ that is read daily. It is another opportunity for children to be immersed in language and listen to a story come alive. It is another chance for children to develop their understanding of prosody. Book Talk Book talk is an important part of the pupil developing their understanding of reading. Each week, classroom time is given to “Book talk”. The Class teacher will ask pupils about their reading choices, what they liked and why they liked. In some cases the discussion may be around why a pupil has noy enjoyed a book. Key vocabulary such as author, genre, character, plot is modelled and used to stimulate discussion. Book talk supports children learn about different types of books and which books to look for in the classroom library. Book talks also helps the class teacher become more knowledgeable about the cohort’s interests so that the library can remain stocked with books that the children want to read.
Impact
All children are formatively assessed daily through teacher’s completion of corrective review. These inform planning for the next day to ensure learning moves forwards or is consolidated as appropriate. Teachers use the school assessment app to track trends and identify areas of strengths and weaknesses for individuals and groups. The information is then used to inform future planning. Standardised termly reading assessments are conducted from Y2 to Y6 to benchmark performance and track reading progress.
RWInc assessments are used to monitor children’s phonics and reading progress, primarily through half-termly assessments using the RWI Assessment Record. These assessments identify individual learning needs, leading to tailored teaching, homogeneous grouping based on ability, and targeted interventions like Fast Track Tutoring for struggling learners. Progress is tracked using individual records and online systems, ensuring all children make the expected progress in their phonics development.
