Reading

Reading Lead - Mrs J Hinsley

At Lowerplace, we aim for every child to become fluent, enthusiastic and confident readers both at home and at school. We seek to ignite a life-long love of reading which will develop our children’s vocabulary and encourage their curious minds. Reading for Pleasure is at the heart of the school ethos - we provide children with a treasure trove of reading materials in our well-stocked book corners and the school library. We want all our pupils to remember their learning of reading in our school, to cherish these experiences and embrace the opportunities they are presented with. In doing so, we aspire to help our children become articulate, imaginative and thoughtful readers for life.  

Through the delivery of our reading curriculum we ensure a consistent and robust teaching and learning of early reading and phonics in EYFS and KS1, so that pupils are able to read with increased speed, fluency and can access the wider curriculum. We follow the Supersonic Phonics scheme and children are provided with books that match and support their phonics development and ability; therefore, all pupils have opportunities to develop their reading skills daily, and are encouraged to read at home with an adult.   

The Structure of Reading

At Lowerplace, guided reading is regularly taught in each year group. Guided reading will look different depending on the year group. In EYFS, the focus is on word reading strategies and this is mainly taught through 1:1 reading. Guided reading in Year 1 and 2 is taught using a whole book approach.

Key Stage 2 guided reading is delivered through whole class teaching that cover all reading content domain with a focus on vocabulary, retrieval and inference skills. Reading lessons take place daily in each year group. These short, 30-minute-long, sessions focus on an excerpt from a high-quality text, pitched towards the higher ability end of the class. This sharing of a short extract from high quality texts allows for teachers to model reading skills that are often invisible skills employed by good readers, as well as exposing children to rich and varied texts, harnessing their imagination and promoting a love of books from different genres.  

During reading lessons, children experience the following approaches to teaching reading:  

• Direct teacher instruction through modelling of skills and techniques: questioning; reading aloud with expression; inference in the moment of reading  
• Inquiry-based learning – having opportunities to explore and discuss a text, orally constructing answers in pairs or groups  
• Pupil-led learning – choosing how to answer a particular question; pupils questioning what they have read and leading open discussions. Pupils will evidence these learning approaches and the progress they are making in reading records, English books and work produced across the wider curriculum.  

 In EYFS children learn:

• to say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs
• read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending 
• read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words

In Key Stage 1 children learn:

• to develop a love of reading by hearing a wide range of stories, poems and non-fiction texts
• to read aloud accurately with books that are consistent with developing phonic knowledge
• to read and blend sounds and recognise alternative sounds
• to discuss order of events in books and how information is related
• can recognise repeated themes and ideas in stories and poems
• to say what might happen next using what they have already read
• explain the meaning of words they do know and ask when they do not understand the meaning
• basic comprehension skills

In Key Stage 2 children learn:

• the meaning of vocabulary and how to use it within context
• to record information and identify key details within a piece of text
• summarise main ideas from one or more paragraphs
• make inferences from the text and explain/justify their understanding by using evidence
• predict what might happen from the details stated and implied
• identify how narrative is related and how it contributes to the meaning as a whole
• explain how meaning is enhance through the choice of words and phrases
• make comparisons within the text

 See our whole school reading progression below:

 Lowerplace Reading Progression

Additional to the texts that children are exposed to at school, they read 1-1 with an adult at least once a week. This book is linked to each child's level of reading to ensure they can build on their fluency and comprehension accurately. We have a range of reading books in school. Whilst learning phonics, the children read books organised into the basic phonics groups, then children move onto coloured book bands and in UKS2, they can become free readers and are able to choose any books from the libraries to read.