REading

IntenT

At Raglan, our aim is for  all children to learn to read fluently and with confidence, regardless of their background, needs or ability. We strive to foster a love of reading at school and at home and believe reading is an entitlement that should enable children to connect with the wider world and provide them with a fundamental life skill. Therefore, reading is at the very heart of our curriculum. We are committed to promoting a love for reading and not only giving children opportunities to read in English and Reading lessons, but in the wider curriculum too.


The curriculum is delivered through Little Wandle phonics, (a systematic and synthetic phonics programme), a linked approach to shared and guided reading using the Destination Reader pedagogy, home reading [supported by Accelerated Reader], regular opportunities for independent reading and hearing quality texts read aloud every day. We make use of high-quality texts across the curriculum to provide challenging reading opportunities outside of the reading lessons. To enable all our pupils to see themselves in the books they read, we ensure our books in school reflect the diversity of our community. All of these are essential components needed to develop fluent, enthusiastic and critical readers. 


It is important that children are motivated to read at home regularly; when their reading opportunities increase, so does their fluency and stamina which in turn increases their enjoyment of reading. Therefore, the link between children’s motivation to read and reading for pleasure is reciprocal. Furthermore, we know that reading for pleasure is beneficial not only for reading outcomes, but for wider learning enjoyment and mental wellbeing. We understand the significance of parents and carers in supporting their children to develop both word reading and comprehension skills so we endeavour to build a home-school partnership which enables parents and carers to have the confidence to support their children with reading at home. 

Implementation

Teaching Reading: Reading practice sessions three times a week  

We teach children to read through reading practice sessions three times a week. These are taught by a fully trained adult to small groups of approximately six children. The books are matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments and are monitored by the class teacher and the Phase Assistant Head. The groups are rotated so that the class teacher works with each group on a regular basis.  Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills: 


In Reception these sessions start in Week 4. Children who are not yet decoding have daily additional blending practice either 1:1 or in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books.


In Year 2, we continue to teach reading in this way for any children who still need to practise reading with decodable books. 


Beyond Phonics: 

In Year 2, children who have completed the Phase 5 Set 5 fluency assessment and achieved a reading speed of at least 60wpm and accuracy of at least 90% begin the Little Wandle Fluency Programme. Each reading session begins with word reading and vocabulary support. For the next 10 minutes of the session, the children read the chapter. The final part of the session is spent focusing on prosody and comprehension. The main idea of the Fluency Programme is for children to become more able to read words at a glance so they will be able to read the words on the page with increasing ease and speed. Both accuracy and prosody are also a focus to ensure children have a good understanding of what they are reading.


In Year 3, children continue the Little Wandle Fluency Programme at the start of the year and begin the transition to Destination Reader lessons throughout the Autumn Term. 


‘Destination Reader’, as a pedagogy, has been embedded in all KS2 classes with consistency between all year groups. Children read aloud to each other and to the teacher which supports them to understand the meaning of new words they meet as well as correct themselves and each other when they are reading.

Modelling of text discussion is an important feature of the pedagogy. Children work in pairs to discuss the text through applying the strategies from the National Curriculum. This provides children with the opportunity to agree, challenge and build on each others’ ideas. 


Discussion of texts is a key focus for Raglan and is embedded and replicated in all curricular areas like HEP, where discussion of Geography and History reading material is emulated. Importance is placed on listening to and discussing a wide range of fiction, poetry, non-fiction and reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes, including diversity and those featuring other minority areas such as disability. Continuity is measured on a regular basis by the Reading Team which looks at how Destination Reader is taught from year to year. Teachers have opportunities throughout the lessons and week to assess children’s fluency of reading and understanding of the text by listening to them read and engaging in discussions.


Ensuring reading for pleasure 

We highly value reading for pleasure and work hard as a school to grow our Reading for Pleasure pedagogy.  We read to children every day. We choose these books carefully as we want children to experience a wide range of books, including books that reflect the children at the Raglans School and our local community as well as books that open windows into other worlds and cultures.  Every classroom has access to a range of books including fiction, non-fiction and poetry and these books encourage a love for reading. We curate these books and talk about them to entice children to read a wide range of books.  In Nursery and Reception, children have access to the reading corner every day in their free flow time and the books are continually refreshed.  In Year 1, during early morning work, children have access to books as one of their activities each day. 


Children from Reception onwards have a home reading record. The parent/carer records comments to share with the adults in school and the adults in school will write in the record on a regular basis to ensure communication between home and school and to offer support with reading at home.  


Children across the school have regular opportunities to engage with a wide range of Reading for Pleasure events (book fairs, author visits, workshops and events such as World Book Day).

Curriculum Enrichment


Long term Plan

Medium Term Planning

Destination Reader MTP