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Intent: 

Reading, is the gateway to pupils learning. To ensure all our pupils are able to access the full curriculum, we therefore place a strong focus on early reading right from the start. Reading is given the highest priority as we recognise that confident, fluent readers will be able to fully enjoy the wider curriculum that we have on offer at Christ Church and Holy Trinity Schools. Our reading provision ensures that most children experience early success, learning basic skills quickly in Reception. Our intention is that all children demonstrate successful decoding skills in the Year 1 phonics check and leave KS1 as confident, fluent readers, able to read a range of texts with accurate comprehension for both information and enjoyment.

Implementation:

In Reception and KS1 we follow the Sound Reading Scheme, a systematic, synthetic phonics approach. Phonics is taught daily, allowing children to have early success at both reading and writing.
Children take part in Guided Reading lessons, at least 3 times per week, where they are exposed to a range of different texts and can demonstrate their understanding and thinking behind these.
Trained volunteer readers and LSA’s  support individual children who have been identified as needing additional support and may not receive this at home.
Our teaching of early reading explicitly teaches a range of reading strategies as well as phonics as we know that different children learn to read in different ways.
Children from Reception to Y6 are expected to read daily at home and reading records used to record their engagement and monitored by the class teacher
Children in EYFS and KS1 have their reading folder changed weekly and children in KS2 change their books once they have finished
During reading lessons we develop children’s comprehension and higher order reading skills
We have a print-rich environment.
Reading is an integral part of other lessons across the curriculum
In response to our assessments, we support children who are finding learning to read more challenging or who are not meeting age-related expectations in reading, with various interventions or additional support.
We support reading for pleasure through class books, recommended reads on the weekly newsletter, reading events (World Book Day, author visits), book reviews
Each classroom has a wide selection of books which are directly linked to the class topic. This offers opportunities for pupils to apply their reading skills across the curriculum.
Different cultures are respresented in the texts which are made available to the children and also those which encourage them to ask questions around British Values
Children in key stage 2 who are not yet ‘free readers’, receive intervention using a systematic and structured programme – Dandelion Readers & Word Wasp

Impact:

By the end of KS2 children will be

Working at or above the expected standard in Reading as assessed by end of KS2 assessments
Confident, fluent readers, able to decode and comprehend text in a range of fiction and non-fiction genres
Able to infer meaning from texts, reading between and beyond the lines and discussing authorial intent
Enthusiastic and engaged readers who understand the value of reading for pleasure and are able to choose appropriate reading matter for themselves and make recommendations to others
Able to access the rest of the curriculum though confident use of their reading skills

Intent:

We take a systematic and rigorous approach towards the teaching of reading and spelling at Christ Church & Holy Trinity Schools. Phonics teaching, which we refer to as Alphabet Code, plays a crucial role in the EYFS classroom and helps children to unlock many doors to their learning. We value and encourage the children to read for enjoyment and recognise that this starts with the foundations of acquiring letter sounds, segmenting and blending skills. We believe this can only be achieved through the use of a carefully constructed advanced reading programme.

As Diane McGuiness says,

“Our brains do the work for us… Once the structure of the spelling code is set up visually, numerous features and patterns come to light. Use of the patterns can dramatically speed up learning while reducing memory load”

Implementation:

Children are exposed to phonics teaching daily in Foundation Stage, and Year 1 and taught explicitly at least 4 times a week.

We use The Sound Reading System written by Fiona Nevola based on the work of Diane McGuiness

Extra support is provided to those in Year 2 who have not passed phonics screening in Year 1 and interventions are planned for those children who are working below expected levels.

Home reading books are from the series ‘Dandelion Readers’ that include words containing their most recently taught phoneme (and no phoneme that they have not yet been taught or exposed to).

Teachers regularly assess the pupil’s phonics knowledge using phonics assessment and Early Learning Goals (in EYFS). These regular assessments inform planning and allow teachers to identify any gaps in learning.

Children in Reception Class learn Key 1 – a sound is represented by single letters c-a-t, Key 2 – a sound is represented by 2 or more letters h-i-ll and Key 3 – same sound can be represented in more than one way m-e, t-r-ee, s-u-nn-y, t-ea-m. In Reception Class children tend to focus on 1 or 2 different spellings and then in Year 1, the children are exposed to all possible spellings for a sound.

We ensure that the children in Reception Class do not take home reading books until they have had at least 4 weeks of phonics teaching to help promote a positive learning experience.

We support Reception Class parents by inviting them to a workshop early in the Autumn term to ensure that they have the knowledge & skills to support their child. They are then invited back for revision sessions in Year 1 and again in Year 2

Impact:

Through the teaching of systematic phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage One. This way, children can focus on developing their fluency and comprehension as they move through the school. Attainment in reading is measured using statutory assessments at the end of Key Stage One and Two. These results are measured against the reading attainment of children nationally. Attainment in phonics is measured by the Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1. However, we firmly believe that reading is the key to all learning and so the impact of our reading curriculum goes beyond the results of the statutory assessments.

Reading at Home

Every child at Christ Church & Holy Trinity Schools is provided with a suitable reading book which matches their ability and interest. Children in KS2 and some children in Year 2 select their own books from their class library. Children in Reception Class and KS1 are provided with reading books which follow a scheme – Dandelion Readers & Oxford Reading Tree. A written record must be kept and class teachers monitor these on a weekly basis to ensure children are reading, track what they are reading and to offer advice and support to any parents who are struggling to support their child.

Children in Reception Class receive a ‘sound book’ & ‘tricky word book’ to help support them at home. It also provides parents with useful information so that they feel equipped to model and scaffold.

Parents are invited to workshops where strategies are discussed and modelled, and senior members of staff are always available to provide ongoing support.