Reading

Intent – What are we trying to achieve?

At Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and Nursery, the teaching of reading is at the very core of our curriculum.  It is our intention to ensure that, by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to read fluently, and with confidence, in order to be able to access any subject in their secondary education and beyond.

We want children to establish an appreciation and love of reading at all stages of their learning journey.  We are committed to providing a broad and diverse range of texts and books which are rich in vocabulary.  We want our children to be inspired by a wide range of text types and diverse themes, as well as a range of authors and poets, and exposed to a balance of new and classic literature – all to create a living library inside the child’s minds which will give them a good grounding for independent reading in the future. 

We, therefore, encourage all pupils to read regularly and widely, using both fiction and non-fiction texts to:

·         develop knowledge of themselves and the diverse world in which they live; 

·         establish an appreciation and love of reading; 

·         gain knowledge across the curriculum; 

·         develop their comprehension skills;

·         develop their self-awareness to understand the kind of reader they are. 

We will support all children to learn to read through consistent teaching and learning approaches, clear leadership, regular monitoring and assessment along with a joint commitment between school and home.

Implementation – How is our vision translated into practice?

To provide children with a solid start to learning to read, the systematic teaching of phonics is given the highest priority, and plays a central role in our reading curriculum, particularly in Early Years and Key Stage 1. 

PHONICS

At Sacred Heart School, we use a synthetic phonics programme called ‘Read Write Inc. Phonics’. 

We have an agreed progression for the teaching of new phonic sounds and use the Read Write Inc. phonics scheme to support this.  During phonics sessions, our staff teach children the relationship between sounds and the written spelling patterns (or graphemes) that represent them.  Phonics sessions involve pupils reading aloud in order to apply and consolidate their phonics knowledge and skills, with the primary aim of learning to read with fluency.   Partner work is very important: pupils often work together, so, teamwork is a key part of RWI Phonics sessions.  All children in Reception, Key Stage 1 and, where necessary, Key Stage 2, have daily phonics sessions in small ability-based groups which are matched to their current needs and phonics skills. 

We re-assess children every half term so we can place them in a phonics group where they will make the most progress.

Timely intervention is planned for those children who are working below expected levels as soon as their needs are identified: we want all children to be able to ‘keep up’ and not have to ‘catch up’.  One-to-one or small group sessions may be provided for some children for this purpose.  Staff may also use ‘Pinny Time’ to revisit key sounds/words at incidental points throughout the day in Reception and Key Stage 1.   

We recognise that systematic, high quality phonics teaching is essential, but additional skills and opportunities are needed for children to achieve the goal of being a well-rounded reader, namely understanding what is read, or ‘reading comprehension’.  At all phases, phonics teaching and learning is complemented with whole class reading which extends the focus of decoding and ‘reading with fluency’, as well as developing other reading comprehension skills: vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanations, retrieval and summarising/sequencing.  The reading curriculum is informed by Key Stage 1/2 National Curriculum objectives and Reading Content Domains, which are built upon systematically through school. 

With our youngest children in the Nursery class, there is a daily planned activity to develop vital speaking and listening skills and phonological awareness (Phase one phonics activities are planned and delivered).  Throughout the day, in our Nursery class, back and forth conversations and sharing of stories and rhymes are used to develop individual children's attention, understanding and spoken language with a strong emphasis on extending vocabulary.  From the summer term, Nursery pupils (who are due to move into Reception in the following autumn term) are taught systematic phonics.

During the summer term in Year 1, pupils undertake a national Phonics Screening Test which assesses their ability to apply what they have learnt.  Pupils who do not pass their Year 1 Phonics Screening Test continue to have intervention to support the acquisition of these key skills and are retested in the summer term in Year 2.

Pupils usually complete the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme by Year 2: some may even finish towards the end of Year 1.  Pupils in Lower Key Stage 2 who need extra support with decoding may also follow the phonics programme.  For older learners, RWI Fresh Start is used to support vulnerable learners in KS2.  When pupils have completed the Read Write Inc. Programme, and have gained the necessary level of achievement in phonics, lessons move towards whole-class reading lessons where the teaching and learning is increasingly focused on reading comprehension skills. 

WHOLE-CLASS READING (using VIPERS)

When children have completed the Read, Write, Inc. phonics programme, reading skills are taught and developed during whole-class daily reading sessions, using focused skill teaching and high quality texts. 

In whole-class reading sessions, children continue to read aloud to develop their decoding and ‘reading with fluency’ skills and strategies, building upon their phonics knowledge and skills.  Whole-class reading provision is informed by Key Stage 1/2 National Curriculum objectives and Reading Content Domains of the curriculum, which are delivered systematically through the school’s reading curriculum.  We use an approach called ‘VIPERS’ as a way to help children understand the content domains of the curriculum and their purpose – with a focus on the types of questions which they need to answer for effective reading comprehension skills.

We use Reading Spy characters to embed the VIPERS concept and help make this fun for children:

In whole-class reading sessions, the class teacher models how to read aloud, and respond to the texts in a variety of ways, deploying and range of reading comprehension VIPERS strategies.  Pupils are encouraged to engage in independent, paired, echo and choral reading, share ideas and engage in reading comprehension tasks, using a range of age-appropriate texts.

Class teachers draw upon careful observations and continuous assessment to ensure children are challenged and to identify children who may need additional support, with decoding, fluency and/or reading comprehension.  Timely intervention is planned for those children working below expected levels as soon as their needs are identified. 

In addition, some pupils may read, and/or receive further intervention focusing on reading comprehension, with a teacher, teaching assistant or reading volunteer.  The focus is pupils whose attainment falls into the lowest 20% nationally (those below age-related expectations).  Furthermore, Pupil Premium children and those pupils not reading regularly at home, have additional opportunities to read aloud.  

We recognise the importance of developing a rich and extensive bank of vocabulary; therefore, we explicitly teach vocabulary directly linked to the text during every phonics and whole-class reading session.  This is revisited and reinforced across sequences of sessions, ensuring that new vocabulary is embedded. 

All classes also use class books for ‘reading for pleasure’, to excite and engage the children, to expose them to new and varied vocabulary, or as a stimulus and to support learning across the curriculum. 

READING AT HOME

Reading at home is also encouraged and promoted through class incentives and parental engagement sessions.

Children working on the Read Write Inc. programme take home a Read Write Inc. Ditty Sheet / ‘book bag book’ matched directly to their current phonics level.  The book bag books include many of the same reading activities that we use in class and include parent guidance.  Pupils should be able to share the Ditty Sheet/ book bag book confidently and fluently, reading with some expression or a ‘storyteller voice’ – as they will have read the book in school (sometimes, several times) before taking it home for extra practice.  Parents/carers are assured that the ease in which pupils can read their Ditty Sheets/book bag books does not mean that these are ‘too easy’ – we want children to feel confident and look forward to sharing their reading with someone at home.  Children enjoy re-reading stories they know well. Their speed, fluency and understanding improve on every read.   Pupils working on the Read Write Inc programme also take home a Book to Share ‘Book Band’ book to share with an adult at home.  These books will be chosen from our structured ‘Book Band’ library, which is made up of a variety of schemes including Oxford Reading Tree, Collins Big Cat, amongst others.  These books may contain sounds and words that your child has not yet come across in their phonics sessions and cannot be read independently; this is why these books should be read with the support of an adult. 

We make sure that pupils can read, with fluency, the full scheme of Read Write Inc. Phonics story books before they progress onto our school Book Band scheme.

When children have completed the Read Write Inc. phonics programme, children will take home Book Band books, which are in line with their current level of reading skill, and which will stretch their reading comprehension.

We recommend that children, who are taking home Book Band books, read at home for at least 20 minutes a night.  Even when children can read to themselves, they still love to read aloud to another person – this also enables them to practise tone and expression when reading.

Monitoring of reading diaries is carried out by teachers to check for regular reading and to give praise and class incentives in order to promote the uptake with home reading and pupil/parental engagement.

Story-time and Reading for Pleasure

The sharing of stories and books is also central to our provision throughout the school, so children enjoy both reading and being read to as part of our daily timetable.

We aim to provide many opportunities where pupils can listen to stories/texts or read independently in a quiet and reflective environment.  We have a bank of stories, poems and other texts which are not only used as a stimulus or curricular-link within lessons but are used to discuss feelings, familiar situations, different cultures, current issues or read just for fun.  Class texts also provide children with the opportunity to respond to the text using skills from wider teaching and learning. 

Our class books are selected carefully to reflect the diverse cultures of our school community so that pupils feel appropriately represented.  Our book choices are chosen to excite and engage the children as well as expose them to new and varied vocabulary.  All books shared with the children are age-appropriate and updated as new resources are available or recommended.   We have an agreed set of key class books/texts to be covered across the school but recognise that teachers and pupils in different year groups will have personal preferences which can be just as inspiring to share. 

Every class has their own class library area.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

Reading is an integral element to our EYFS, enabling the staff of Sacred Heart School to lay the building blocks from which the rest of the curriculum is built.  

Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) have the opportunity to read a wide variety of books both individually, in small groups and as a whole class.  Our EYFS offers a text-led curriculum which stimulates a creative approach to reading and begins to develop a love of both books and reading.  Book corners and designated libraries are inviting and children are encouraged to read during their time spent ‘Learning through play’. 

Whist pupils are learning to read, they follow the RWI programme until they are fluent and proficient readers.  (Please see details above regarding Phonics and its delivery.)

Impact – What is the impact of our curriculum?

Through the teaching of systematic phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1.  With decoding taught as the initial prime approach to reading, pupils will become familiar with this strategy and have the confidence to work out unfamiliar words in any new texts they encounter even when they have come to the end of the Read Write Inc. programme.  Pupils will have the opportunity to develop their fluency and comprehension as they move through the school, accessing a wide range of texts during lessons and well as independently.

Attainment in reading is measured using statutory assessments such as the end of EYFS, Key Stage 1 and 2 assessments and following the outcomes in the Year 1 Phonics Screening check.  Additionally, we track our own reading progress and attainment through the use of RWI half-termly and book-bag screening assessments, book band Running Record screening assessments, Accelerated Reader termly assessment, NFER reading papers, and on-going teacher assessment.

More importantly, we believe that reading is the key to unlocking all learning; therefore, the impact of our reading curriculum goes beyond statutory assessments.  We give all the children the opportunity to enter the amazing new worlds that a book opens up to them and share texts from a range of cultures or genres to inspire them to question or seek out more for themselves.  We want reading to be the golden thread running through a child’s journey at Sacred Heart School.  When they leave us, we want pupils to possess the reading skills and love of literature which will help them to enjoy and access any aspects of learning they encounter in the future.