Reading
Intent
At The Rosary Catholic Primary School, reading is a top priority and is a key driver for our curriculum. Part of our intent is that all our pupils should enjoy a wide range of experiences beyond those normally employed in teaching the National Curriculum. By doing this we hope to develop children’s love for reading.
Reading and Phonics is a high priority to address gaps due to deprivation and cultural diversity, which will feed into all areas of the curriculum.
It is our intention to ensure that by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to read fluently and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.
We therefore intend to encourage all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop: knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live; to establish an appreciation and love of reading; to gain knowledge across the curriculum; and develop their comprehension skills. We are committed to providing vocabulary rich reading material and this is evident through all aspects of the curriculum.
By the time children leave The Rosary, they will have mastered a range of skills that will support their future development. These are –
- To have a sense of curiosity and enjoyment, we provide opportunities for children to share their love of reading by reading aloud in class and assemblies. Children also share their enjoyment of a text by discussing it with others during Whole Class reading sessions.
- To have experience Cultural Capital in a variety of different forms, we develop in pupils a love of books and high-quality literature that will not only support their learning across the curriculum, but also extend beyond the classroom environment and enrich their lives. We explicitly teach reading skills throughout the school to continually develop children’s understanding and enjoyment of texts.
- To be resilient, independent and self-motivated, to use what they have learnt as readers to influence their writers and orators we foster in pupils the confidence, desire and ability to express their views and opinions both orally and in writing.
- To ask questions and to problem solve, we expose children to a range of challenging texts (age appropriate) and develop their ability to increase their fluency and confidence in reading
- To be global citizens of the twenty first century, we expose the children to challenging concepts, different cultures and ways of life through the books they study: teaching them to value and celebrate diversity in culture and language.
Implementation
The systematic teaching of phonics has a high priority throughout Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. Phonics is taught, using the Read, Write, Inc. programme, daily to all children in Foundation Stage, Year 1 and those in Year 2 who have not passed phonics screening in Year 1. Phonics is also taught in Key Stage 2 to pupils who have not passes Phonics Screening and those still working within the RWI level.
All EYFS, KS1 and KS2 staff (teachers, TAs and LSAs) have been trained to teach and plan these sessions. Staff systematically teach learners the relationship between sounds and the written spelling patterns, or graphemes, which represent them.
In reception, Phonics is delivered in ability-group format from after the October half term, because it enables staff to ensure application across subjects, embedding the process in a rich literacy environment for early readers.
Timely intervention is planned for those children who are working below expected levels as soon as needs are identified.
In EYFS and KS1 we hold annual Reading and Phonics workshops to support parental knowledge and understanding.
Alongside The Read, Write, Inc. Phonics programme, children take home fully-decodable and ability matched levelled books.
The school ensures all texts are accurately matched to pupil ability by:
- In Reception and KS1 children are assessed using the Read, Write, Inc entry assessment and follow the reading books which is matched to the phonics teaching they receive
- From Year 2 and once completed the Read Write inc programme, children are assessed using Star reading assessment and use Accelerated Reader
- In KS2 children who still need phonics sessions continue on the Read, Write, Inc. programme and read ability matched levelled books
The two reading leads and class teachers have the responsibility to ensure progression and challenge in the reading materials selected for all children
Class texts are carefully selected by the Power of Reading lead with the knowledge of how they link to other areas of the curriculum.
Comprehension skills are thought through storybook teaching of the Read, Write, Inc programme.
Fluency is also developed through storybook teaching of the Read, Write, Inc from Yellow to Grey bands.
Whole Class Reading sessions begin once pupils have completed the Read Write Inc programme to introduce pupils to a range of genres and to teach a range of techniques which enable children to continue developing their fluency and to comprehend the meaning of what they read..
Any children not making the expected progress have 1:1 or small group intervention using bespoke packages (Fast Track tutoring – 1:1 interventions)
Impact
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- In Class Feedback
We understand that feedback in linked to progress and has to be timely to make an impact. In class feedback is used to support teacher’s workload, ensure it is as immediate and timely and specific as possible, and leaves the teacher time to focus on individual identified needs. During whole class reading sessions teacher working with an assigned group provides instant feedback regarding decoding strategies, fluency and reading domains.
- Corrective Teaching/Summative Assessment
When a pupil has not met the learning objective there is timely support so they are able to continue on the learning journey with their peers. Teachers adapt their planning for the next lesson to ensure there is time to address these misconceptions. It may be addressed in the next lesson, by a Teaching Assistant, in small groups in the lesson or at Booster Clubs. The misconceptions may also be addressed through in class marking, conferencing, verbal feedback or with the use of mini plenaries. We use whole class reading sessions where teacher models the thinking process when analysing a text.
- Pre Teaching/Pre Assessment
All teachers must be aware of the pupil’s prior attainment. Through our Pre Learning Assessments we aim to pre-empt the difficulties for some pupils. Read, Write, Inc assessment and Accelerated Reader reports provide necessary information about each child’s reading skills and gaps. We analyse the information and plan the learning according to individual needs and cohorts. The Pre Learning Assessments provide the starting points for learning. Where possible, the Teaching Assistants support teachers and complete pre-learning activities or activities in lessons will be tailored to address the learning gap. This might be re visiting vocabulary or basic skills needed to access the age related objective.
- Teaching Assistants and Interventions (see Interventions Policy)
When we identify need, the Teaching Assistants and/or Teacher deliver short, focused, interventions. The interventions are repeated over a week, either, daily or a specified number of times per week. The interventions are specific to the need and they are given until the misconceptions are addressed or the gap in learning is reduced.
Same day interventions are also used to pick up on misconceptions from the current days teaching and learning.
- Partnership
Teachers engage parents through September welcome meetings. Fortnightly newsletters and Parent Consultation Days ensure an effective partnership to ensure children meet their age related expectations. Mystery Reader and weekly drop in reading sessions encourage parents to take an active role in developing love for reading.
- Moderation
Maths, reading and writing are all moderated internally to ensure we make robust judgements, particularly on transfer between key stages. Teachers also take part in external moderation at a Local Authority and Deanery level. Every term, teachers meet to moderate writing and ensure that teacher assessments are accurate.
- Formal Assessment Cycle
- KS1/KS2 SAT’s in May
- Year 1 Phonics in June
- Reading is assessed using RWI assessment and Star reading assessment
- Writing is moderated by all staff and then Teacher Assessment agreed based on the child’s performance in class.
- EYFS is assessed and recorded using the Evidence Me programme. This is used to add photographs to the learning journeys of each child based on the EYFS objectives.
- Target Tracker is used termly to track attainment and progress against the subject specific learning objectives. This is in Reading, Writing, Maths, Science and RE.
- Foundation Subjects are assessed in groups of children meeting the expected standard, working below/above the expected standard. This will be based upon ‘low risk quizzes’ and with use of the Knowledge Organisers.
- School reports
School reports are issued at the end of the school year. All subjects, including RE, are marked as Working towards National Expectations, Meeting National Expectations or Exceeding National Expectations.
Children are also given a grade for effort within a given subject.
21st Century World; 21st Century Learners
Phonics
What Scheme do we use to teach phonics?
We have chosen to use Read, Write Inc. for our phonics teaching. This is a proven programme of synthetic phonics instruction that provides our children with a solid foundation in the sounds needed for early reading and writing, regardless of background or social need. We believe that this is important in achieving social justice for all. The programme enables children to read fluently and at speed so that they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling.
We have also selected this scheme for:
- the high quality of training and support that enables staff to deliver the programme with confidence and fidelity
- the resources and the targeted interventions available for children who require extra support. The programme enables children to read fluently and at speed so that they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling.
- The links available to parents that help them to support child at home in early reading and language acquisition
Please visit Phonics and Early Reading page for more information
Accelerated Reader
Whole Class Reading
At the Rosary, we teach reading skills through whole-class reading lessons. Whole class reading lessons offer opportunities to model, demonstrate and practise reading aloud with fluency and expression, when children can listen to the teacher and then have a go for themselves, making their reading aloud sound natural and confident. In addition, the whole-class lesson offers those useful moments to address a point of grammatical terminology, encompassing every listener at once on a given point.
Elements of reading in whole class reading lessons
- The teacher reading aloud
- Pupils reading
- The teacher’s modelling and explanation
- Questioning
The sessions aim to support pupils in developing fluency, accuracy and automaticity necessary to comprehend written texts. This is practised using strategies such as echo reading, where the teacher reads a text aloud sentence by sentence or line by line and pupils echo the teacher’s reading, copying its pace, intonation and emphasis as well as choral reading where pupils can be allotted different lines to practice reading together.
Literature is the most powerful medium through which children have a chance to inhabit the lives of those who are like them ... children also need to learn about the lives of those whose experiences and perspectives differ from their own. Choosing stories and non-fiction that explore such differences begins to break down a sense of otherness that often leads to division and prejudice.
Reading Culture
What Makes Our School a Reading School?
- Reading Ambassadors
- Accelerated Reader programme Year 2 to Year 6: online reading, ZPD, testing, quizzes; coded books that enable children to choose books at their level of interest and ability (ZPD)
- A high quality phonics programme (see above)
- High quality texts: our children are exposed to a variety of diverse authors
- Our topics are enhanced and engage children through the provision of Project Loan texts
- The whole class teaching of reading that focuses on developing fluency, accuracy speed and intonation, and comprehension skills
- Exposure to high quality vocabulary across all subject areas. Our curriculum is structured around developing:
spoken vocabulary
vocabulary for written texts
and subject-specific and academic language
- Dedicated time for daily read-aloud sessions across all year groups from EYFS to Year 6
- Parental engagement through weekly reading sessions where children and parents enjoy texts together
- We encourage a sense of fun for reading
- through Our Mystery Reader visits
- We have invested in the Power of Reading programme which exposes our children to a wide variety of texts accredited by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE)
- Pupils engage in Recommended Reads whereby they are able to recommend books they have enjoyed to each other
- We ensure that the Read Write Inc home readers are decodeable and matched with the child’s ability
- Our libraries provide a wide selection of texts which are regularly updated by Hounslow Library Services. All our classes visit the library weekly to establish good habits for life
- We have established Reading Shacks in our playgrounds so that children can indulge their passion of reading at breaktimes
- World book day
- National Poetry day
- Roald Dahl day
- Book Week with associated activities
- Workshops for parents
The Reading Ambassadors Year 1 - Year 6
Reading Progression Map
Reading Progression Map Support for Progression in Reading
Reading for Pleasure
Reccomended Reading for Each Year Group
How can I help my child with reading?
Russian - Reading with your child 4-6 years old
Portuguese - reading with your child 4-6 years old
Urdu - Reading with your child 4-6 years old
Punjabi - Reading with your child 4-6 years old
Polish - Reading with your child 4-6 years old
English - Reading with your child 4-6 years old
