Reading & Phonics
Intent
Reading is a fundamental skill – and it is essential that we get the teaching of this right. That is why we place reading at the heart of all we do; both teaching reading lessons explicitly (learning to read) and encouraging reading in all other subjects (reading to learn). Reading widens a pupil’s world, allowing them to imagine and experience the lives, settings and opinions of others which they may not otherwise be exposed to. We therefore recognise that it is crucial for all pupils to master the skills associated with reading in order to be able to access all that our curriculum offers them.
The ability to read fluently and effectively and understand how to apply these skills has a direct impact upon progress and attainment in all areas of the curriculum and also upon a pupil’s self-esteem, well-being and motivation to learn. Therefore, we want our readers to gain a range of strategies that they can employ to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary and texts. Furthermore, we wish to develop the love of reading for enjoyment. This is crucial for our pupils as we support them to become lifelong readers. We have therefore adopted a curriculum that seeks to rigorously and securely develop pupils’ knowledge and skills in reading which follows a clear path of progression as they develop through the school. From learning phonics and the skills of early reading to exploring a range of texts and genres, including poetry, fiction (modern and classic) and non-fiction, and then onto more complex understanding of authorship and how language choice can impact the reader – the journey of learning how to read is clearly mapped at Longthorpe Primary School.
Implementation
The Read Write Inc. Phonics Programme
At Longthorpe we implement the Read Write Inc. phonics programme. Phonics is taught across Reception and KS1 daily and is carefully delivered through a range of progressive and sequenced lessons. Read Write Inc is delivered by all teachers and highly trained teaching assistants. Following a half termly assessment, phonics groups are carefully planned to ensure teaching can be focused on pupils’ specific needs and next steps. Pupils learn alongside other pupils who are working at the same level. Each phonics lesson is split into three parts: the ‘speed sounds’ section, the ‘reading section and the ‘writing’ section.
Our phonics sessions are fast-paced, clearly modelled, interactive and challenging to ensure effective learning and progress is made. Pupils work in pairs to answer every question, practise every activity with their partner and take turns in talking to each other. Outside of the daily phonics session, opportunities are given in classroom environments for pupils to further apply and practise their developing phonics skills. Carefully planned interventions and extra sessions are also planned into the curriculum for pupils who need it.
The Year 2 FFT ‘Routes To Reading’ Programme
Our Year 2 reading curriculum is designed to enable pupils to master the skills, knowledge and understanding for reading fluency and comprehension as they finish the phonics programme and transition to the complexities of reading longer texts and short novels. They will experience fifteen texts from a range of types and genres and through these, will deepen their comprehension skills and understanding and increase the level of vocabulary practised and learned. The programme has been deliberately designed to build on pupils’ phonemic knowledge, decoding, fluency and comprehension skills learned in year 1 through a deliberately planned structure. Lessons include: reading for meaning and understanding tasks; choral reads, echo reads, partner reads or independent reads; reading journal activities; comprehension tasks; and time for questions, reflections, to revisit and consolidate and for the celebration of reading successes.
The Year 3 – 6 Success For All ‘Wings’ Programme
The Wings programme includes a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts. The range of fiction books covers classic, traditional, modern and online books as well as poetry and play scripts. All the books are progressively challenging. The Quest programme follows on from Wings 5 and includes Manga and graphic novels. Wings 2 – 5 have 3 phases within them that build on the skills of reading learnt previously in FFT and moves pupils onto a deeper understanding of comprehension, summarising, clarifying and analysis. Each Wings phase has a ‘Savvy Reader’ unit connected to it, which teaches the pupils questioning (Wings 2 only) and clarifying (all Wings) skills in order to prepare them for reading the books within the proceeding units.
Reading Roadmap
Key Documents
Full Reading Curriculum Overview
To find out more about our reading curriculum please contact the school office.