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Peter Gladwin Primary School

Dream | Believe | Achieve

CourageousCaringFriendlyRespectfulTrustworthyResponsible

Reading at pgs                                                                                                  

INTENT

At Peter Gladwin, we value reading as a key life skill and believe it is the foundation of learning. We are dedicated to enabling our children to become lifelong readers. Children’s reading journeys begin from when they enter EYFS through the teaching of phonics and exposure to high quality age-appropriate texts. An interest in books is developed by sharing songs, stories and rhymes, fostering opportunities to talk and re-enact stories or follow children’s interests through information books. Books are shared with the children daily; children are motivated to look at and talk about story and information books in their child-initiated play by utilising books in all areas of the provision. Moving into KS1, children continue to build on their reading skills and begin to develop greater independence when accessing a variety of texts. As they enter KS2, children build and develop their comprehension skills, further enabling them to appreciate a wide range of high-quality texts. Through these carefully-selected texts, they develop a love and appreciation of reading across fiction and non-fiction, poetry, traditional tales, plays and texts which reflect our children's different realities, enabling them to develop fluency and confidence, seeing themselves as readers and as writers.

By adopting a consistent approach to the teaching of reading, linked to the EYFS and National Curriculum, we aim for all our children to develop the skills and confidence to read across all subject areas.

 

IMPLEMENTATION

At Peter Gladwin our motto is ‘Dream, Believe, Achieve’. We believe reading is key for academic and future life success and so, to ensure we have a holistic approach to the teaching of reading, we implement the following:

  • We teach phonics through 'Twinkl Phonics' -  a DfE validated systematic synthetic phonics programme whereby children learn letter sounds and learn to blend them together to read and write words. As part of this, children have daily phonics lessons where they participate in speaking, listening, reading and spelling activities. The teachers draw upon observations and continuous assessment to ensure children are stretched and challenged and to identify children who may need additional support. Children work through the different phases, learning and developing their phonics sounds and knowledge.
  • IN EYFS/KS1 the children take home a levelled book (Rhino Readers) that matches the phonic stage they are being taught in school and the child is encouraged to read this independently. They also take a home a book which they can share with their family at home on a regular basis.
  • Through quality first teaching, children learn in daily reading lessons, where they engage with a range of high quality books and demonstrate their understanding and thinking about the texts
  • We are very lucky to have a wide range of reading books in our school. All children from EYFS to Year 6 choose a reading book to take home. We place high value on reading for pleasure.
  • Each classroom has a selection of books which are directly linked with the class topic. This offers opportunities for the children to apply their reading skills across the curriculum.
  • Children are read to each day by their class teacher. This could mean sharing a whole-class book, a topic-related text or a child-selected book, depending on year group.
  • Each classroom has a reading area that is filled with books suitable for their reading ages. The reading area is a comfortable place for children to read throughout the day.
  • Throughout the school high quality books linked to termly topics are used to create a series of engaging lessons.
  • Within each class, the children are encouraged to develop their key and subject-specific vocabulary through focused discussions. Class assemblies take place regularly, giving children the opportunity to share and celebrate their learning.

 

At Peter Gladwin, we understand that children have different learning needs, therefore throughout the school children are exposed to a wide range of reading strategies to support their reading development. We use elements of the CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education) ‘Power of Reading’ teaching sequences in our English lessons. This resource uses quality children’s literature and creative teaching approaches to support teachers in developing a high quality literacy curriculum and fostering a whole-school love of reading and writing. 

 

We believe the home school partnership is essential in developing a child’s reading engagement, ability and stamina. Children are encouraged to read at least three times a week at home. At the early stages of the children’s reading journey in EYFS and KS1, staff communicate with parents in Home Reading Records to ensure that the children read regularly.

 

IMPACT

Through the teaching of systematic phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent readers by the end of KS1. This way, children focus on developing their fluency and comprehension as they move through the school. Attainment in reading is measured using the statutory assessments at the end of each Key Stage; these results are measured against the reading attainment of children nationally. Attainment in phonics is measured by the Phonics Screening Check 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. Teachers assess children regularly against the Reading Key Performance Indicators (Years 1-6) and against the Reading Early Learning Goal (in EYFS). These regular assessments inform planning and allow teachers to identify gaps in learning. Teachers also complete regular phonic assessments to track and monitor progress.

 

We give all children the opportunity to enter the magical worlds which books open up to them and actively promote reading for pleasure as part of our reading curriculum. Children are encouraged to develop their own love of genres and authors, to review books objectively and to comprehend and critique what they read. This enhances a deep love of literature across a range of genres, cultures and styles, and enables children to appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage.

By the time children leave Peter Gladwin School they are competent readers who can recommend books to their peers, have a thirst for reading a range of genres including poetry, and participate in discussions about books, including evaluating an author’s use of language and the impact this can have on the reader. Our reading curriculum develops the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.