Reading
Intent
Reading
is at the heart of our curriculum. In education, the term "Matthew
effect" describes a phenomenon observed in research on how new readers
acquire the skills to read: early success in acquiring reading skills usually
leads to later successes in reading as the learner grows, while failing to
learn to read before the third or fourth year of schooling may be indicative of
lifelong problems in learning new skills.
This
is because children who fall behind in reading read less, increasing the gap
between them and their peers. Later, when students need to "read to
learn" (where before they were learning to read), their reading difficulty
creates difficulty in most other subjects. In this way they fall further and
further behind in school. According to the
Department for Education, Waltham Forest’s Key Stage 2 or SAT results (for
pupils aged 7 to 11) in the academic year 2019, 72% of pupils reached the
expected standard in reading, writing and maths, whilst 15% reached a higher
standard. Both are above the England average (65% and 11%), as well as the
London average (71% and 14%).
About
one in four residents aged three and over (26 per cent) do not speak English as
their main language compared to 8 per cent nationally (2011 Census). The majority
(78 per cent), however, can speak English well or very well. About 6 per cent
of the borough's residents (14,250 people) have said that they do not speak
English well or at all.
At Salisbury
Manor Primary, we want our children to:
§ Become fluent, confident and expressive readers who have both the skill
and the will to read effectively
§ Read with enjoyment across a range of genres
§ Read for pleasure as well as for information
§ Read and respond to a wide range of different types of literature
§ Understand the layout and how to use different genres and text types
§ Understand and apply their knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns
and use this to decode words with accuracy
§ Build their bank of sight words to enable fluent reading
§ Have an interest in words and their meanings, developing a rich and
varied vocabulary
§ Understand and respond to literature drawn from a range of cultures and
literary heritage.
Our
school understands the challenge that exists between teaching children to be
fluent readers whilst ensuring that we support them to develop a life-long love
of reading. To this end, we have worked hard to ensure that our reading scheme
is congruent with the phonic phases and the sequence of teaching. Our reading curriculum
is designed to achieve a balance between develop the Instructional Agenda (the
skill) and the Pleasure Agenda (the will). This policy intends to promote a
love of reading for all pupils whilst creating life-long readers who have the
skills to access all areas of the curriculum with independence and confidence
so that they go on to be successful in Key Stage 3, 4 and beyond.
Our
reading curriculum is also planned in a way which promotes the cultural capital
of all our children. We enhance our curriculum, especially for the most
disadvantaged, by providing access to a diverse range of texts including those
which promote different socio-economic backgrounds, disabilities, religions and
cultures, and periods of history.
Implementation
Reading
at Salisbury Manor Primary is taught systematically. Some teaching
strategies are generic across the whole school, whilst others are
specific to key stages. Implementation is by the class teacher and is supported
by classroom Learning Practitioners.
Phonics
from the start
What
happens before formal phonics is taught? In Nursery we
immerse children in activities providing opportunities to tune into sounds.
There
are six aspects taught:
1.
Environmental Sounds
2.
Instrumental Sounds
3.
Body Percussion
4.
Rhythm and Rhyme
5.
Alliteration
6.
Voice Sounds
All
the aspects are taught through group times and total immersion in a rich
language environment. We aim to do this by providing a totally immersive
nursery experience with lots of rhymes, singing time, rhyming stories, clapping
rhythms, musical instruments taught through play at every opportunity.
Informal ways to explore letters: e.g. sand moulds, sounds of the week, phonics
awareness through modelling writing, or sounding out words.
We
also use short discrete group times to model a variety of activities with all 6
aspects taught during the week and use carefully chosen books every day to over
learn rhyming words and voice sounds. We encourage children to join in,
especially with the repetitive parts to build confidence and learn.
During
the Spring Term pupils in Nursery will access more formal teaching of phonics
through the delivery of the RWI Nursery programme.
Moving
on with Phonics
In the
Early Years, pupils will receive more formal lessons taught using the Read,
Write, Inc Synthetic Phonic Programme. All our staff are highly trained and receive
regular coaching to deliver this. It is taught daily, systematically both to
whole class at the correct phonological stage and to discrete groups.
It is
important that the teaching of reading is matched to the teaching of phonics.
As such, all children must have a home RWInc. reading book that matches the
sounds they have learnt or are learning in their phonics lessons. Families are
encouraged to read daily at home and record in their online reading diaries at
least 5 times per week.
Year Group
|
Term
|
Phonics Phase
|
N
|
End of Autumn
|
Aspect 1 – 6 Tuning into Sounds
|
End of Spring
|
Aspect 1 – 6 and RWI Nursery Programme
|
End of Summer
|
RWI Nursery Programme
|
R
|
End of Autumn
|
Red Ditties
|
End of Spring
|
Set 1 Green
|
End of Summer
|
Set 2 Purple
|
1
|
End of Autumn
|
Set 3 Pink
|
End of Spring
|
Set 4 Orange
|
End of Summer
|
Set 5 Yellow
|
Reception
or when ready in Nursery:
•
Children will enter Reception having been immersed in opportunities to tune in
to sounds.
• At
the end of Autumn term, most children will be able to read CVC words and sight
words by speed and labels.
• At
the end of Spring term, most children will be able to read the Set 1 Green
sounds and words and irregular words, labels and captions. They will be
beginning to read Set 2 Purple sounds and words.
• At
the end of the Summer Term, most children will be able to read the sentences
with Set 2 Purple sounds and words and decode regular words. Some will be able
to decode regular words of more than one syllable.
Year
1 or when ready in Early Years:
• All
children should enter year 1 with knowledge of some of the Set 2 Purple sounds
and words.
• At
the end of the Autumn Term, most children will be secure at Set 2 Orange and be
ready to start Set 3 Yellow.
• At
the end of the Spring Term, most children will have completed Set 4 Orange.
•
At the end of the Summer Term, most children will be secure at Set 5 Yellow and
will be beginning to look at spelling patterns.
Year
2 or when ready:
• A
Year 2 child at ARE will have completed RWI Sets 1 to 3 prior to starting.
• Year
2 pupils will continue to receive daily phonics teaching in groups based on
phonics assessments. Most children who enter Year 2 should be reading a book on
the Accelerated Reader Programme .
• The
emphasis now moves onto grammar, punctuation and spelling ready for the GPS
SATs assessment.
•
Those children who are falling behind the expected standard will continue to
receive targeted phonics intervention in order to bridge the gap.
Strategies
and Aims for Early Years and Key Stage 1:
• A
commitment to linking reading with writing
•
Shared Reading, using a big book or text on the interactive whiteboard, with
small groups or the whole class
•
Guided Reading of the same text in small groups, including teaching a range of
reading strategies and comprehension
•
Oxford Owl online reading platform
•
Daily phonics lessons using Read, Write Inc
•
Phonics intervention groups lead by skilled teaching assistants in each class
where needed for the bottom 20% readers
•
Reading of texts linked to topic work
•
Daily ‘Class Reader’ in which the class teacher reads stories to the class to
promote a love of reading and model fluency
•
Library visits, including the class and school library
• Attractive
reading areas around school
•
Books promoted around school
•
World Book Day involving local authors, booksellers, poets, storytellers and a
range of book related activities
•
Extra activities to raise the profile of reading, linked to different themes.
Key
Stage 2
In Key
Stage 2 children learn to become fluent readers with increasingly growing
comprehension skills. Children who are in a learning gap are given significant
support through daily RWInc or Fresh Start interventions that are targeted to
their ability and gaps.
Key
Stage 2 Reading Skills
These
sessions follow a structured weekly cycle. Teachers select texts that will
immerse the pupils in their next genre for writing 2 weeks prior to starting.
This will ensure a range of text types are covered and will strengthen the link
between our approach of Reading as a Writer and Writing as a Reader.
The
Sequence:
Day 1:
Day
2:
Day
3:
Day
4:
Day
5:
Assessment of Reading:
Formative
and summative assessments are used to inform the planning and teaching of
reading. We use weekly reading comprehensions, Year 2 and 6 SATs and termly
PIRA assessments from Years 1 – 6. These are analysed using MARK online and
Shine Interventions are used for pupils identified as a result of this
analysis. Children complete half-termly STAR Reader Tests to provide an
accurate picture of their ZPD (zone of proximal development) and reading age.
The
Pleasure Agenda:
All
pupils are read to by an enabling adult on a daily basis during ‘Class Reader’
time. This time is protected as we believe it is vital in developing a love of
reading and the will to read independently and by choice. In these daily
sessions, staff read aloud books at a higher level than the ability of the
pupils to the whole class. They read with passion and excellent fluency
modelling what makes a good reader. Staff select books that promote cultural
capital and engage the interests of the pupils they teach.
Impact
As
we believe that reading is key to all learning, the impact of our reading
curriculum goes beyond the result of statutory assessments. Children have the
opportunity to enter the wide and varied worlds that reading opens up to them.
As they develop their own interest in books, a deep love of literature across a
range of genres, cultures and styles is enhanced.
Through
the teaching of systematic phonics and reading skills, our aim is for children
to become fluent and confident readers who can apply their knowledge and
experience to a range of texts through the Key Stage 2 curriculum and into Key
Stage 3, 4 and beyond.
A
Year 6 reader, transitioning into secondary school, will be a fluent, confident
and able readers, who can access a range of texts for pleasure and enjoyment,
as well as use their reading skills to unlock learning across all areas of the
curriculum.