Reading
Intent
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At Christ Church (Church of England) Infant School and Nursery we believe that the ability to read is fundamental to pupils’ development as independent learners. Success in reading has a direct effect on progress in all areas of the curriculum; therefore, reading is given a high priority, enabling the children to become enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers across a wide range of literature. Reading is a complex skill with many components. Successful approaches to the teaching of reading should encourage children to use a variety of strategies in their pursuit of meaning. It is important to lay firm foundations in this crucial area of the curriculum and establish a consistent whole school approach to the teaching of reading.
We want our children to be ‘readers’, not just children who can read.
Aims
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Develop fluent, confident and independent readers
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Help children to develop a love of reading and recognise its value
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Give children the confidence to read aloud with expression and clarity
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Develop and extend the children’s vocabulary through shared and whole class reading
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To teach children to use a wide range of reading strategies
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Encourage children to talk about books and texts read to show their understanding
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Develop children’s interests through a wide range of media
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For every teacher to be an advocate for reading
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To create reading opportunities across all areas of the curriculum
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​Implementation
At Christ Church (Church of England) Infant School and Nursery we want our children to be passionate about books that will open up new worlds and ideas for them. As such, we provide a wide range of opportunities and strategies to develop pupils early reading skills and understanding of texts.
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Daily high quality Read Write Inc. phonic lessons
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150+ graphemes taught
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Children taught ‘Red’ tricky words
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Half termly assessments to check progress
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Catch up interventions for any child falling behind
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Whole class reading once RWInc completed
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Reading dogs* used to teach reading skills across the domains
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1-1 reading for children in Reception and KS1 with emerging/developing skills
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Guided Reading sessions for Rec and KS1 pupils with developing/secure skills
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RWInc book bag books are used for home reading linked to pupils phonic level
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Addition ‘Read with me’ colour banded books chosen by each child to develop own preferences, greater range of genres and enhance a love of reading
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Daily story time
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Book corner in each class provide opportunities for shared reading and choice of genres
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*Reading Dogs are a technique used to teach reading strategies:
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Vocabulary Victor- Victor looks at the words the authors choose in the book.
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Rex Retriever- Rex will help retrieve facts from a text.
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Predicting Pip- Pip tries to look into the future to see what might happen next.
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Sequencing Suki- Suki likes everything in order, she helps to sequence a story.
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Inference Iggy- Iggy hunts for clues in a text to tell you how someone might be feeling or why something happens.
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Impact
At Christ Church (Church of England) Infant School children make at least good progress in reading from their starting point in EYFS to become confident, fluent readers by the end of Key Stage One. Children at Christ Church develop a love of reading; they love listening to stories and sharing books with their teachers, family and friends. Children at Christ Church see reading as an essential life skill. They develop their own interest in books developing a deep love of literature across a range of genres cultures and styles. Children are familiar with and enjoy listening to a range of stories, rhymes, poems and non-fiction. They enjoy reading and are happy and confident to talk about their progress, learning, favourite texts and authors.