Further Implementation of Reading
Throughout school, we have created a range of inviting reading areas to motivate and encourage our children to develop their love of reading. Books are organised into genres and authors to enable children to understand their own reader identity. There is a culture within school of positive reading talk and lots of discussion around texts. Children have access to a wide range of quality texts and phase libraries have been developed to ensure that children are provided with a choice of appealing home reading books.
Drawing on their wide experience, our teachers have worked together to design their own, personalised reading spine (collection) that includes a breadth of high-quality text types, genres and authors. From the books the pupils will share together in classrooms, we have carefully selected our ‘100 books to read at St Oswald’s’ and have created a new central reading space in school where these books can be shared and enjoyed.
All EYFS and KS1 children are taught phonics and reading daily following our SSP scheme Little Wandle sessions. Please see our Early Reading Policy for further information.
In KS2, all pupils engage in daily guided reading sessions. This allows teachers to listen to individual children read aloud at least once a week as well as a weekly whole class guided reading session. We also run Little Wandle catch up groups to support our lowest 20% of readers.
Daily storytime takes place at least once in every classroom to continue to develop reading for pleasure and to expose children to new tiers of vocabulary. This daily time is protected and prioritised and is modelled to the children as being a very special and exciting time of the day.
Celebrating Reading
Throughout the year, we also ensure that we celebrate key literacy inspired dates. These have included: National Poetry Day, Roald Dahl Day and World Book Day. Each year, we also have the Scholastic Book Fair which children thrive from visiting and purchasing books from.
Staff have a real love of literature. We regularly promote upcoming events and our own reading out of school. Why not drop by and ask an adult what they are reading at the moment? We always love to share and recommend!
Parent Information
We run various parent information sessions throughout the year which include: EYFS and KS1 Phonics Workshop, Y1 Phonics Screening evening and Y6 SATs information meeting so parents and carers understand age-related reading and writing expectations. These sessions are always very well attended by parents and carers who often comment about how helpful the sessions have been. During Parents Evenings, we also share the end of year expectations with parents to ensure children at all levels are helped to achieve their potential.
Supporting and Inclusion
In EYFS and KS1, all children are assessed each half term through Little Wandle. We run intervention groups based on assessments to help support children with their phonics alongside reading. We also provide groups focused on fine motor skills for those children who need support with this. In KS1 and KS2, we have daily readers who have sessions with the aim of developing a positive relationship with reading; building children’s confidence and enabling them to discuss books on a 1:1 basis. Our KS2 Little Wandle catch up groups are assessed and reviewed every half term to ensure children are working at the appropriate level.
Teachers plan and teach sequential English lessons which are differentiated to the particular needs of each child. We help each child maximise their potential by providing help and support where necessary whilst striving to make children independent workers once we have helped to equip them with the confidence, tools and strategies that they need.