We believe our learners have the potential for success with reading and we provide opportunities to make this happen.
Whatever their starting point, every pupil is given the opportunity to develop their reading skills at a pace that suits them. No limit is imposed on what they can achieve. At Mabel Prichard we intend to equip learners with the engagement and motivation to read, in order to enhance and add value to learning and lives.
We understand the importance of developing reading skills, so learners can access the wider school curriculum with growing confidence, and the wider community when they reach adulthood.
We have a carefully considered and sequenced approach to early reading, which enables children working at an early development level to build essential pre-reading knowledge, understanding and skills. These include early visual, auditory and motor skills; focus and attention skills; early communication skills; and memory and sequencing skills. Foundations for reading are established through a clear focus on developing language comprehension and word recognition skills. This includes a focus on developing vocabulary, language conventions and background knowledge alongside phonological awareness, which we achieve through sharing high-quality stories and poems; the Little Wandle Foundation for Phonics programme; learning a range of rhymes and simple poems; and activities that develop focused listening and attention, including oral blending.
Learners who have established these pre-reading and foundations for reading skills are supported to become effective early readers. There is a continued focus on developing language comprehension skills alongside more formal decoding and automatic word recognition skills. We use the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds' systematic synthetic phonics programme to ensure children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school. Alongside our phonics programme, we use carefully matched ‘Big Cat’ decodable reading books in order for children to apply their phonics knowledge and be able to access high quality texts and read for pleasure later on.
Each learner's reading progress is tracked through their personal learning journeys in Evidence for Learning and their phonic knowledge progress is tracked through regular formative assessment and shown on the Little Wandle Assessment Tracker.
Pupils access books in their classrooms, in the school library and the local libraries. Some of our younger readers access early rhyme and reading groups in the community and our older readers visit Littlemore library and borrow books regularly. Every class has a daily story time and, as a minimum, pupils accessing phase two phonics and upwards also have three small group or one to one reads weekly. Pupils at Mabel Prichard are given the opportunity to explore texts which reflect the diversity of the school community, allowing our young people to see themselves represented, included and valued. They experience sensory stories, multisensory rhyming activities and different genres of text. Pupils of all ages are exposed to high quality picture books and experience narrative sessions, drama and comprehension activities. Our Big Cat E-book library is accessed by parents and carers at home and pupils also are given the opportunity to take self-chosen “book talk” books home to share.
Learners reading skills enable them to function with maximum independence in daily life
Learners access learning across the wider curriculum with growing independence
Learners develop a love of reading that will stay with them for life
Learners are able to access prints in their wider environment such as the supermarket or cafes.
Learners develop crucial life skills and independence - being able to read a variety of texts in the real world
Learners have an enjoyment of reading, supporting good mental health
Learners' adulthood is more fulfilled and meaningful.
Little Wandle Phonics policy and progression documents
Communication framework
Writing framework
My World framework
PSHE framework
Careers framework
Personal Development opportunities
Library visits
Local author visits
Little Wandle scheme of work including three weekly reads
Links to Dr Sarah Mosely works and the Teach Us Too Charity
It is recognised that, due to physical barriers or neurodiversity, some pupils will not write in the conventional way, so our writing curriculum aims to support all learners to develop ‘writing’ skills that will enhance their growing independence. Learners are provided with a range of alternative means of ‘writing’ such as symbol-support, technology and mark making implements. Writing at MPS is seen as an activity that supports and incorporates communication, records events and experiences that are important to learners and widening their world of literature.
There are many building blocks that need to be in place before a learner can successfully use a pencil to write. Our curriculum is designed to ensure that the prerequisite skills needed are developed across the school day: hand and finger strength, crossing the mid-line, pencil grasp, hand eye coordination, bilateral integration, upper body strength, object manipulation, visual perception, and dominance and hand division.
Learners will work at an appropriate and individualised point relating to writing - be it from contributing and making marks in a variety of textures to developing their own imaginative stories and writing captions.
Within the preformal pathway, body awareness and making changes will be a focus. Learners in a semi formal and formal pathway will take part in sessions relating to a chosen book for the week or term with a focus on both transcription and composition.
All learners encounter mark making and most are able to use it as a tool for communication and enjoyment
Learners within the informal pathway use writing as a communication tool and be able to form some recognisable letters to support functional communication
Learners within the semi and formal pathway use writing to aid their independence and functional skills within the wider world
Learners make progress with fine and gross motor skills
Learners experience texts in different ways (symbols, photos, books, signs)
Learners develop their skill with ICT software and hardware to support their communication skills
Learners who are able, develop functional writing skills to support independence (writing lists, letters, ingredients, recipes) and prepare for a meaningful, fulfilled adulthood
Reading scheme of work
Communication scheme of work
Library visits
Local author visits
Little Wandle scheme of work including handwriting
Fine and gross motor activities
Physical development scheme of work
Careers framework
PSHE framework