Reading
Reading at Adswood Primary School
We aim for our children to gain knowledge, understanding and curiosity through reading that remains with them for life. The curriculum is designed to develop phonological awareness, fluency through
accuracy, phrasing, pace and smoothness, reading for meaning and a full range of comprehension skills and strategies. Children will be both inspired to read and inspired by reading and texts will be carefully chosen to match our school values, develop learning behaviours, support and link to other curriculum areas, develop an awareness and understanding of protectedcharacteristics, British values and to challenge the children’s reading ability.
INTENT
At Adswood Primary, we recognise that reading is a key life skill and that the ability to read brings life-long pleasure. The teaching of phonics and early reading throughout EYFS and Key Stage 1 is of the highest
priority. Our vision is that children quickly become enthusiastic and motivated readers. They have the ability to recognise, blend and segment sounds, in order to read words, as well as reading sight words, in
order to become confident, fluent readers, who show a good understanding of what they have read. Our children read a wide range of high-quality genres and texts, promoting a love of literature and an
enjoyment of reading for pleasure and for information. We strive to teach children to read effectively and quickly, following the Read Write Inc programme. This includes teaching synthetic phonics, sight
vocabulary, decoding and encoding words as well as spelling and accurate letter formation. We passionately believe in teaching children to read and write independently, as quickly as possible. These
fundamental skills not only hold the keys to the rest of the curriculum but also have a huge impact on children’s self-esteem and future life chances. Therefore, rigorous assessment and monitoring ensures
that no child fails behind and that struggling readers receive targeted support at the earliest opportunity.
Implementation
Here at Adswood primary school we follow and implement Read, Write Inc. from Nursery (FS1) through to Year 2. Read, Write, Inc is a systematic programme for teaching reading. The sessions take place daily for all Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and for children who require Phonics in KS2. The purpose of the Read Write Inc. programme is for children to learn and apply blending skills so they can segment words and become skilled, confident readers.
The children follow a series of lessons and then are provided with a decodable book at their level, containing their taught sounds. This means the children have a better chance of success at reading fluently. The children also take home a ‘Book Bag’ book home, which also allows them to apply their taught phonic knowledge and practice their reading a home.
How can I support my child with phonics?
- Read as much as possible with your child.
- Help your child to practise their ‘Speed Sounds’ Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3.
- Encourage them to look at sounds in words and decode for themselves when reading. Resist giving them the word and guide them to use the phonics they know. Have fun making up alien words! Draw funny aliens and give them weird phonic names.
- Make use of the Ruth Miskin Portal.
- Watch the videos sent out on Seesaw.
Reading from Year 3 to Year 6 is taught covering a range of different aspects of a skilled reader. Links will be made to their prior knowledge to support their understanding of the text, new vocabulary will be introduced and language structures will be analysed. Reading is taught as a standalone, daily lesson to either the whole class or in small groups covering the National Curriculum objectives. Through continual assessment of comprehension, accuracy, fluency and pace, teachers adapt their teaching to the needs of the children.
Adswood Active Reading is our approach to shared reading. Adswood Active Reading involves exploring different texts and comprehension tasks. This helps to equip our student’s with a number of skills that they can apply to any text they wish to read. Our reading sessions are timetabled to ensure that all children from Y1-6 have focused time with a staff member and independent reading time for pleasure. At Adswood, our students have access to a wide range of genres, authors and series of books in our vibrant and inviting Reading Rocket. Every child has the opportunity to take home a book from our Reading Rocket and change it as frequently as necessary.
We promote reading with parents by sending home Reading Records encouraging children and parent’s to record any reading that takes place at home.
At the end of every school day each teacher will share a class read promoting a love of reading and exposure to a rich reading diet. The set texts for each class are selected from suggested texts and cover a wide range of themes and genres.
For children who may require additional support, our teaching assistants deliver precise and high quality reading interventions; these include Stockport Early Reading Intervention and Fresh Start. Teachers and teaching assistants work in partnership to boost children where they need it most. Our interventions can be one to one or small group and targets a specific need whether it be phonics or comprehension.
Our pupils’ love of reading is highlighted every year when we take part in World Book Day. Both staff and pupils enjoy dressing up as their favourite characters and sharing stories with each other.
IMPACT
Subsequent monitoring of reading across the school by SLT and the Reading Lead has shown an improvement and upward trend across the year groups. (September 2024) . As a staff, there is a desire to
continually improve and this ongoing monitoring cycle ensures that small changes can be made to ensure the highest possible standards are maintained/improved.
Please have a look at the files below that detail - 'What reading looks like at Adswood Primary'.
