Reading
Reading is at the heart of all we do at Thurgoland School because it opens the door to learning. Everything else depends on it, so we put as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who reads challenging material will learn. The more a child learns, the more they will want to find out. We want your child to love to listen to stories, love reading and want to read themselves. This is why we work hard throughout school from Class R to Class 6, to make sure our children develop a love of books as well as simply learning to read.
Intent
Oracy is a precedence for children at Thurgoland Primary School. Talk underpins the EYFS statutory framework and the national curriculum states that spoken language fortifies the development of reading.
Oral skills – both speaking and active listening – are at the very foundation of literacy. Classroom talk helps students to learn, to reflect on what they are learning, and to communicate their knowledge and understanding. We provide discussion opportunities in every lesson, not just reading, in all year groups.
With the EYFS Statutory framework and National Curriculum at its core, reading is a priority at our school and is delivered through a well- mapped out knowledge document that maximises learning for all children at Thurgoland across all subject areas. We know that in order to access a broad curriculum a child must be able to read and speak clearly and fluently.
We strive for all our children to develop into articulate and imaginative communicators who are well-equipped with the basic skills they need to become life-long learners. Communication skills are foundational to reading so are integral to our curriculum. Well-structured oral and collaborative activities maintain children’s time on task more consistently.
Through an inspiring text-based curriculum, we aim to ensure that all our children develop a genuine love of language and literature by immersing them in a diverse range of high-quality books. Strong links between oracy and reading ensures that pupils hear high level vocabulary read to them daily therefore pupils speak with broad vocabulary. Vocabulary plays a fundamental role in the reading process, both in terms of word recognition and language comprehension.
We aim for all pupils to become enthusiastic and motivated readers who have the confidence to read a wide variety of genres and text types and take ownership of their reading for pleasure. We plan for our children to become fluent readers; read with purpose for an audience as well as seeing reading as an interesting and enjoyable process that they use to learn across different subject areas. Above all, we plan for our pupils to be able to speak about what they have read or had read to them; express their opinions and ask probing questions.
It is our intention that all our pupils acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to become lifelong learners and linguists. We are committed to supporting our pupils on their oracy and reading journeys. Through talk and listening, our pupils explore and come to understand ideas and concepts; identify and solve problems; organise their experience and knowledge and express and clarify their thoughts, feelings and opinions. Oracy skills are pivotal, equipping children to thrive in life beyond Thurgoland School.
By providing a well-rounded learning experience that inspires and engages pupils, we give opportunities for everyone to have their voice heard and articulate their thoughts, ideas and opinions with confidence.
Reading and oracy are at the heart of Thurgoland School and we meet the needs of all children regardless of their ability or background, always setting high expectations, celebrating strengths and supporting them to be a reader, communicator and have a life-long love of books.
To meet the expectations set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework and the national curriculum that align with Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework; our teaching units use high quality, age-appropriate texts so that children have exposure to high level vocabulary and phrases that they can use when speaking and writing.
Talk underpins the EYFS statutory framework and the national curriculum states that spoken language fortifies the development of reading and writing so oracy has a high priority for children at Thurgoland Primary School. We provide discussion opportunities in every lesson in all year groups.
EYFS and KS1 develop their oracy through Talk through Stories. This extends and deepens children’s comprehension and vocabulary through carefully selected texts.
In KS2, pupils’ oracy learning journey continues through high-quality texts which are shared and discussed in daily comprehension lessons.
Reading at Thurgoland is planned carefully and taught explicitly in daily literacy lessons. Skills learnt are regularly reinforced across the curriculum so pupils become confident readers. Reading lessons support our pupils to construct a mental model of a specific text so they understand its meaning. Full novels are read aloud.
We waste no time at all to ensure our passion for reading is shared by giving every child starting in Class R a book that can be shared with their family. On home visits, we explain what support and engagement is expected at home and from the liaison diary.
Read, Write Inc phonics begins straight away to get the children off to the best start with their reading. An information event is held for families explaining how children learn to read the sounds in words and how these sounds can be written so that a child learns to spell as well as read. As part of this programme, children practice reading and spelling ‘tricky words’ (such as ‘the’, ‘have’, said). We insist that children learn to decode words effortlessly so that their energy is put into understanding what they read. Teachers and Teaching Assistants undertake training to deliver phonics and follow the Read, Write Inc programme that delivers word knowledge and skills in the alphabetic code. Children are taught as a whole class initially then are divided into groups according to their phonic knowledge and their ability to read words speedily. Children requiring additional support are identified and Fast Track tutoring begins in the first 6 weeks of starting school. Phonics assessments are undertaken by the Reading Leader half termly but ongoing formative assessments are conducted for children who may need moving groups in the interim. A child’s reading book always matches their progression in phonics.
All staff in Class R regularly read to the children so that the children get to know and love a variety of stories, poems and information books. These are selected to cover different areas of learning such as Past and Present; People, Culture and Communities and The Natural World. Stories from different cultures are read and books are used for the children to see their own lives reflected in the pages and/or for the children to get a view of lives and stories that are different from their own.
Children complete the entire Read, Write Inc phonics programme until they can read all of set 3 sounds speedily; read 80+ words per minute and read multi-syllabic words speedily. After this, the focus is on objectives taken from the national curriculum: Read with pace and fluency. – Begin to use expression as appropriate. – Read at a pace of 90 words per minute. – Read multisyllabic words with little or no hesitation. – Read year 2 common exception words. Both accuracy and speed are essential to be a fluent reader. Pupils who need the most support are taught using RWInc and have Fast Track tutoring. They are assessed and reassessed frequently so that they can make the fastest progress.
In year 2 reading comprehension takes place daily. The teaching sequence enables pupils to thoroughly understand what they have read to develop recall, inference and the opportunity to form and justify opinions about what they have read.
A love of books continues through a weekly visit to the school library; book club discussions and an appealing class reading area that has books chosen to meet the needs and interests of the cohort as well as texts that link to our wider curriculum, such as geography, history and science.
In the summer term of year 1, there is a statutory phonics assessment. The outcome is shared with parents and any children who do not pass retake the assessment in year 2 to ensure that they have made progress and have the phonetical knowledge needed to be a confident and fluent reader.
Whole class reading takes place every morning following a teaching sequence that prioritises vocabulary and oracy development in line with National Curriculum requirements for the year group expectations. The sessions have pupils reading aloud (Echo reading); teacher’s modelling and explanations and questioning. The pupils build experience with increasingly complex texts; gain new language and develop fluency. Reading of high-quality class texts with high level vocabulary are modelled by the teacher and answering different types of comprehension questions are taught explicitly. The focus text for each unit of work also supports our writing curriculum.
There is informal book talk (Book Club style) that takes place in a weekly visit to the school library that provides time to read in a sociable environment and an opportunity to recommend books to pupils.
Every class has its own class library that has age-appropriate recommended reading books for their year. A child ‘borrows’ a text and enjoys reading it as well as a book banded one and a book from the school library should they wish to choose one.
All children are benchmarked each half term to ensure that they are reading texts that match their ability. Any child requiring extra support with their reading receives an intervention and reads more regularly with an adult during a week who helps them through key questioning and discussions about their book.
What can parents/carers do to help?
Every child is provided with a reading book which they will be able to decode using their current level of phonic knowledge. We encourage this to read and re-read at home to develop their reading fluency. Fluency is vital. Below is a link to a video clip which shows the programme in action and explains everything, including ‘Fred talk’!
http://www.oup.com/oxed/primary/rwi/aboutrwi/video/
We ask that the children regularly share their reading books with a grown up at home. Our expectation is four times per week at least. This regular practise is invaluable and enables children to progress more quickly and confidently.
Make reading fun! Remember to keep reading to your child. They will then come across far more adventurous words than in their own first reading books and you will be helping them to grow a vast vocabulary and develop a deeper understanding of different stories. Most of all, it will encourage them to love books and want to read more. If a child sees and hears an adult reading, they are inspired by them!
At Thurgoland, we promote and celebrate reading
We are a reading school!
At Thurgoland, the love of reading is promoted and celebrated widely through exciting activities including World Book Day; visiting authors and poets; book fairs; monthly ‘Big Book Swap’ and reading to members of our community.
Every teacher is an advocate for reading and recommend their own favourite books to children. Reading and books are at the centre of the curriculum. We plan time in for all children to read independently, read aloud and be read to during the school day. We have a group of reading volunteers who come in and hear our children read regularly.
Our drive to make every child a reader, starts with talking and vocabulary. We are a ‘talk a lot’ setting and focus on developing the ability to articulate ideas, engage with others through spoken language every day. We teach children to become effective speakers and listeners to empower them to have a better understanding of themselves, others and the world around them.
All children are encouraged to read at home from the day they start until the day they leave Thurgoland School. Although your child will bring home appropriate books from school, we encourage reading any of their favourite texts from home or share books with their family members. These can include comics, magazines, newspapers or websites.
We know how important reading is, and really value the enjoyment reading brings which is why reading takes place everywhere! A large story telling chair outside is very popular along with a book nook shed for enjoying reading outside. Learning to read opens doors for children and offers them opportunities to learn more and know more. They truly can read to learn! As well as a vital life skill, reading can broaden all our horizons and bring endless pleasure; that is why reading is at the heart of Thurgoland Primary School.
If you have any further queries about how we teach reading, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your child’s class teacher.
Useful Documents
Values that are at the heart of Thurgoland
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Getting here
Halifax Road
Thurgoland
Sheffield
S35 7AL
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