Reading
Intent
Research suggests that the 'goal of reading is comprehension and that skilled reading involves understanding as well as decoding text. In short, learning to read progresses to reading, effortlessly, to learn.' (Rose, 2005). Reading is made to be a part of the daily routine of the classes through phonics and guided reading. At Easton Primary school we understand the importance of getting the children reading early, thus the children receive daily synthetic phonics. To find out more about the early reading strategies used in the school, have a look at our phonics intent and implementation for further information.
Our overarching aim is to foster a life-long love of reading. In every lesson we focus on the two overarching skills for reading; reading words accurately (decoding and fluency) and understanding texts (literal and inference based skills).
We see reading as an important tool in developing children’s lifelong opportunities. Therefore our reading curriculum begins in the early years and progresses up through the primary phases. We recognise that children learn best when they are given opportunities to review, revisit and reflect on their skills and understanding, throughout the curriculum we focus on:
Developing excellent phonic knowledge and skills
Building fluency and accuracy in reading
Building a strong knowledge and understanding of challenging vocabulary
Developing excellent comprehension skills
Building motivation to read for learning and enjoyment
At Easton we aim to inspire pupils to love reading and develop their general knowledge by introducing them to a wide variety of texts encompassing writing, spanning different periods of time and encompassing diverse and wide-ranging topics.
Learning Theory Information
Cognitive Load theory is all about how we store and process information. In the classroom this means teachers understand that pupils have different needs in terms of how much information they can store, access and process in a lesson and plan accordingly for them. Lessons provide time for groups each week to discuss a text before applying their knowledge, this is because we recognise that children develop knowledge as a result of interaction and language use, as children progress through the year groups we also encourage them to engage in debates about what they know and what they read. Teachers are expected to use Bloom’s taxonomy when planning questions about texts and to link this to their understanding of the different areas of reading - vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summary. Each class also uses the learning pit model encouraging children to challenge themselves and be aware of metacognitive processes and the associated emotions.
Transition & Progression Over Time
Our Long Term Plan draws on a blend of both knowledge and skills which at its heart follows the national curriculum, research that contributed to it include the national literacy trust and the literacy shed. Children’s skills are built upon in small group work and teachers use observation and question records that cross skills and year groups in order to assess children during and after reading lessons. These build on each other and show progression across key stages and year groups allowing children to develop the skills they require for the next key stage.
Implementation
Reading begins in the Early Years with phonics. Pupils receive daily phonics lessons following All Aboard phonics and are taught in groups according to their year groups - historically we have streamed across EYFS and KS1. This year there is only one child who did not pass the phonics screen due to EAL. This child will receive phonics teaching intervention. Other children making less than expected progress will complete the All Aboard Phonics intervention programme to identify specific needs and address them.
We strive to inspire children to be readers for a purpose. Therefore the different key s
kills outlined for the different stages of the curriculum are taught across the different subjects of the curriculum. Children will receive guided reading education every day in a stand alone reading lesson but they will have other opportunities in other lessons eg. science. Children also read with their teacher at least once a week. In the Early Years and KS1 children are heard individually more regularly than in UKS2. This is achieved by a team of volunteer readers and trained staff in school to ensure plenty of individual practise.
Guided reading is planned for daily and children are taught in small groups. Teachers use a combination of planning resources to support planning the key concepts including literacy shed plus resources. Teachers follow a guided reading map selecting appropriate texts that support comprehension and word reading and the books have been leveled according to the whole school reading system. Children are levelled using the Collins Reading fluency checker and this is done half termly although teachers do have the capacity to move children’s book levels as they see fit.
Children select their reading book from their classroom. Every class has
their own set of reading books in the room and children pick their own books to allow them to develop their own interests in reading. Teachers do monitor this to ensure that children are reading books that challenge them and are reading widely. These books are split into each classroom based on comprehension level and curriculum experience and then within that into word reading fluency required.
How have you adapted the curriculum to extend and support pupils?
Guided reading books are split into year group texts and then banded according to the schools banding system. This ensures that children will not repeat texts and that teachers are able to pick texts that will truly challenge children, both in terms of word reading and comprehension. Guided reading is taught in groups and these groups are split across Years 2-6 with class teachers planning for each group accordingly. These groups are split by ability level allowing pupils to be appropriately challenged alongside other children of similar reading ability. Texts for guided reading are picked specifically to challenge children’s reading experience, for example classic children’s texts that use archaic language forms or texts such as Once that develop deep understanding of historical events.
Reading Across the Curriculum
At Easton Primary School, each of the curriculum areas have set books highlighted to
enrich and engage pupils in the topics they are learning in the long term plans. These books are often used to support model texts in literacy or to support pupil's knowledge and understanding of a subject area in topic work. Classrooms each have a reading area and these topic books are used to enrich displays and entice children to read more!
