Reading

World Book day 2023

Roald Dahl Day 2023

Am amazing day! The day started with our termly reading prize draw and storytelling from the staff. Throughout the day children wrote, told and illustrated their own stories and revolting rhymes before being treated to storytelling sessions around the school by different teachers.

Roald Dahl Day

Intent

At Sandown School, reading is a top priority and is a key driver for our curriculum. Therefore, we have a Reading leadership team comprised of the English/ Phonics Lead, AR/ Reading Lead, Curriculum Lead (Deputy Head teacher), Writing Leader, English Governor and teaching assistants from across the school.

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 any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

We therefore intend to encourage all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop: knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live; to establish an appreciation and love of reading; to gain knowledge across the curriculum; and develop their comprehension skills. We are committed to providing vocabulary rich reading material and learning environments.

Implementation

The systematic teaching of phonics has a high priority throughout Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. Phonics is taught daily to all children in Foundation Stage, Year 1 and those in Year 2 who have not passed phonics screening in Year 1.
Staff systematically teach learners the relationship between sounds and the written spelling patterns, or graphemes, that represent them using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds.
Phonics is delivered in ability-group format after assessment, because it enables staff to ensure application across subjects, embedding the process in a rich literacy environment for early readers.
Timely intervention is planned for those children who are working below expected levels as soon as needs are identified, following the keep up materials from Little Wandle Letters and Sounds.
In Terms 2/3 parents are invited into school for a meeting to introduce phonics and early reading. One to one reading appointments with their child are offered in Foundation Stage. Children take home a sharing book to read with an adult and a matched scheme phonics book. Parents have access to the appropriate phased e-book that is being taught in class.
Once children are confidently reading, they move on to the Accelerated Reading programme. This generally happens in Year 2.
The school ensures all texts are accurately matched to pupil ability, as all books within AR are graded to ensure progression and challenge for all children.
All children beginning AR complete the AR Star Reader test to ensure they read appropriately challenging books.
All staff and the AR/ Reading Lead use the reports generated by the star reader and AR tests to identify teaching approaches that will address the areas of need for individual or groups of children. AR/ Reading lead will share these once per term with teaching staff to support in identifying low progress and setting targets.
Quality texts are carefully selected by teachers using the Power of Reading approach, with the knowledge of how they link to other areas of the curriculum. This approach ensures books are always at the heart of the curriculum.
All classes have access to the AR and non-fiction library. Classes in Foundation Stage, Year 1 and Year 2 have a book corner with a variety of genres to promote reading for pleasure.
Teachers read to pupils regularly and time is put aside for daily reading. DEAR time (Drop Everything and Read) is a daily expectation for at least 15 minutes. Additional school staff such as MDS/ SLT will listen to vulnerable children read in this time. Teachers are expected to share a chapter book with pupils for pleasure.
Local authors are invited to speak to EYFS, KS1 and KS2 children about the process of becoming an author and lead workshops to encourage reading for pleasure and writing their own books.
Star books scheme- children can earn a set amount of stamps on their card for their points progress to attend a hot chocolate party with the AR / Reading Lead once per term. Children in Years R and 1 can earn stamps by having their reading record book signed by a parent when they have read to a parent at least three times a week.
Children achieving their reading target have their names put into a ‘Spin The Wheel’ competition termly, to win a book of their choice or a £5 book token.

Impact

The Reading Curriculum is evaluated through analysis of phonics (LWL&S) and AR assessment information.

At Sandown pupils are able to:

Discuss their learning in reading confidently with others.
Speak and listen with enjoyment through spoken word -poetry and performance.
Engage with a variety of genres.
Use support strategies such as phonics, the editing rainbow, thesaurus and dictionary to support reading new words and vocabulary.
Read diligently as part of the Accelerated Reader scheme and take pride in their progress.
Use the SPAG tools in a confident way to decode prosody when reading.
Use their literacy learning confidently and enjoy reading for pleasure.

By the time pupils leave Sandown:

They will have a good literary understanding of vocabulary and comprehension and be able to use reading skills to discuss their learning.
They feel confident and prepared to use literacy in the next steps of their learning journey.
They can use effective and efficient methods to help them to decode and read a rich and varied catalogue of books.
They will be fluent in reading for pleasure and have an enjoyment of reading.

Summary- a systematic approach to teaching phonics (LWL&S) is resulting in significantly improved school phonics outcomes. Pupils are learning to decode and encode quickly and successfully thereby providing a firm foundation for further learning. KS2 outcomes are showing improvements over time. When children leave Sandown School they are readers for life.

Reading Comprehension Knowledge

Word reading Knowledge

Reading progression

Find out about our Early Reading and Phonics progression here.

Reading for Pleasure at Home