Reading

Intent

Cheddar First School is determined that every child will learn to read, regardless of background, needs or abilities. We want our children to be fluent, confident readers. They will be exposed to a wealth of stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction to develop their vocabulary, language comprehension and engender a genuine love of reading and a keen interest in a range of texts. We work to inspire them to become life-long readers who enjoy books and have a desire to read for pleasure.

Implementation

Teaching reading: Reading practice sessions three times a week

We teach children to read through reading practice sessions three times a week. These:

• are taught by a fully trained adult to small groups of approximately six children
• use books matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using assessments from Unlocking letters and sounds
• are monitored by the class teacher, who rotates and works with each group on a regular basis.

Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:

• decoding
• prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
• comprehension: teaching children to understand the text

In Year 2 and 3, we continue to teach reading in this way for any children who still need to practise reading with decodable books.

Home Reading

All children receive two decodable practice books that are taken home to share with the family. Reading for pleasure books also go home for parents to share and read to children.  We use the Unlocking letters and sounds parents’ resources to engage our families and share information about phonics, the benefits of sharing books, how children learn to blend and other aspects of our provision, both online and through workshops.

Ensuring reading for pleasure

We value reading for pleasure highly and work hard as a school to grow our Reading for Pleasure pedagogy.

• We read to children every day. We choose these books carefully as we want children to experience a wide range of books, including books that reflect the children at Cheddar First School and our local community as well as books that open windows into other worlds and cultures.
• EYFS and KS1 classrooms have an inviting book corner that encourages a love for reading. We curate these books and talk about them to entice children to read a wide range of books.
• In Nursery/Reception, children have access to the reading corner every day in their free flow time and the books are continually refreshed.
• Children from Nursery/Reception onwards have a home reading record. The parent/carer records comments to share with the adults in school and the adults will write in this on a regular basis to ensure communication between home and school.
• As the children progress through the school, they are encouraged to write their own comments and keep a list of the books/authors that they have read.
• The school library is made available for classes to use at protected times. It must be booked via the school booking system.
• Scholastic reading fair- we have twice yearly visits from the Scholastic book seller roadshow. Children are encouraged to bring their parents and carers in to choose discounted books across a broad range of authors, subjects and book types.
• Books at bedtime – annual event when children are invited to come back to school and hear staff members read a bedtime story (teddy bears optional!)

Impact

Daily Keep-up lessons ensure every child learns to read

Any child who needs additional practice has daily Keep-up support, taught by a fully trained adult. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.