Grove Wood Primary School

READING

Reading at Grove Wood

At Grove Wood, our vision for reading is to develop the life-long thirst for knowledge and pleasure in reading. Regardless of starting points or backgrounds, we are committed to providing a broad and balanced range of reading experiences which challenge, excite and motivate. Our vision is to provide our pupils with a variety of reading experiences and challenges which are designed to help prepare our children to be enthusiastic readers both in the classroom and in the world beyond it. By providing a wealth of reading experiences we open up new worlds, other cultures, and enrich the world for the children within our school. We believe that the discrete teaching of reading is essential for children’s learning and progression. Reading is a crucial skill which must be securely established by the end of KS2.

At Grove Wood, we aim for our children to:

● read easily, fluently and with good understanding;

● develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information;

● appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage;

● read fluently and with confidence in any subject;

● read a wide variety of genres and text types;

● develop an appreciation and a love of reading.

The current curriculum divides reading skills into two dimensions:

● Word reading/ decoding

● Comprehension

We recognise that both these elements are essential to success and we support the acquisition of both sets of skills through various methods.

In Reception and Year 1, children read books in their Read Write Inc sessions which are closely linked to their reading ability and increasing knowledge of phonics and the common exception (red) words. This is so that, early on, they experience success and gain confidence that they are readers. Re-reading and discussing these books with the teacher supports their increasingly fluent decoding.

Alongside this, every child in Reception and Year 1 reads with either their teacher or learning support assistant at least once a week to support and extend them individually. All children will have a phonetically decodable book (bookbag book) matched to their phonic level and choose a book from our shared reading book range to enjoy at school with an adult and at home. The children will also visit our school library once a week to choose a book to share for pleasure at home.

Finally, the teachers read a wide range of stories, poetry and non-fiction to pupils to promote a life-long love of reading. In every year group, children are read some books from the Pie Corbett reading spine during their daily story time session.

This will continue into Year 2, until the children have completed the RWInc programme. They will then be taught in a guided reading group each day, which focuses on reading skills. During this session, the children work with partners to read a text and then focus on a variety of reading skills. The children also read individually once a week with their teacher or learning support assistant. As in Reception and Year 1, children in Year 2 are exposed to a wide range of whole class stories, poetry and non-fiction to foster their enjoyment of reading. Children in Year 2 who are still on the Read Write Inc programme take home a bookbag book and a shared reading book. When children reach the grey level of Read Write Inc they take home a bookbag book and an accelerated reader book. When children have completed the phonics programme they no longer take a bookbag book home but will continue to choose an accelerated reader book home linked to their ZPD score.

In Key Stage 2, children continue daily whole class guided reading sessions with a strong focus on higher order reading skills such as inference and deduction, skimming and scanning and the ability to read texts critically. Over the course of a week, these sessions aim to develop skills in partner reading and discussion of a text, understanding vocabulary, prediction, retrieval of information and sequencing, inference and explanation. Children will use a range of books and Serial Mash texts as part of these sessions. One session a week is a designated ‘read for pleasure’ session where children can read and share books from home or school.

Children in KS2 choose an accelerated reader book linked to their ZPD score. Children will then quiz on their book once they have read it before changing it.

We aim to continue to promote a love of reading and all children are able to choose a book from the KS2 library each week to take home to read and share for enjoyment. Once again, teachers have whole class stories, poems and non-fiction books available to read with the children to promote enjoyment and pleasure in reading through regular class story time sessions to foster their enjoyment of reading. What are reading VIPERS and how can I use them at home?

At Grove Wood, we use the VIPERS mnemonic throughout the school to help support the children's development of comprehension skills. You can support this development too at home by asking deeper questions when you read at home with your child. Click the above link to view questions that link to each of the VIPERS skills.

V- Vocabulary

I- Infer

P- Prediction

E- Explain

R- Retrieve

S- Summarise/ Sequence

Reading Ambassadors

At Grove Wood, we have Year 6 reading ambassadors who meet with Miss Stokes weekly. Each reading ambassador is paired with a child in Key Stage 1 and they read with their reading buddy once a week during lunchtimes. The reading ambassadors help to plan World Book Day and promote reading across the school.

The Reading Race

We actively encourage children to read and have in place initiatives to reward reading participation.

The reading race is a reward system designed to encourage children to read regularly. Each day, when a child reads at home with an adult, they record it on their reading race chart in their home school book.

In EYFS, the children are rewarded with certificates when they have read 50, 100, 150 and 200 times.

In KS1, the children receive a sticker for their bookmark every time they read five times at home. Children who read five times a week are rewarded with a prize from the prize box. Once a bookmark is complete there is a prize at the end of the term voted for by the children e.g. time in the woods, adventure playground time, reading a special book in the library. Once their red bookmark is complete, children move onto the yellow bookmark and then finally the green bookmark. Any child who completes all three bookmarks in a year receives a further certificate and pencil.

In KS2, each class has an ‘Around the World in 80 Reads’ display. After every 10 reads, children move their name onto the next continent on the display as they read around the world! Once they have read around the world for the 1st time they are awarded a bronze certificate, then a silver certificate after their 2nd read around the world and finally a gold certificate after their 3rd read around the world. Any child who receives all three certificates in a year will also receive a further certificate and reward pencil.

Resources

All classes have an inviting reading area with a selection of fiction and non-fiction texts and First News newspapers in KS2. They also have a variety of age appropriate resources including dictionaries and thesauruses. In the two libraries (one for Key Stage One and one for Key Stage Two), there are a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books available to support the children in their learning and enjoyment of books. Year 6 librarians have been trained to manage the libraries at lunchtime and all children visit the library regularly to change their books.

If you have any questions about reading at Grove Wood please feel free to approach your child’s class teacher; our English coordinator, Miss Stokes, Miss Francis or any member of our Senior Leadership Team.

Years 2 and 4 Sharing Stories on World Book Day!