Reading At Parklands
Reading is one of the most important skills your child will learn during their time at school. Reading, listening to and talking about stories and non-fiction develops children’s vocabulary, because they meet words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech. Understanding vocabulary is vital for comprehension and also for wider learning and progress across the entire curriculum.
We recognise that being able to read is a key skill for life for all children and we believe that every child can learn to read with the appropriate teaching and support.
Our aim is very simple; we aim for every child to leave Parklands Primary School a confident, fluent reader who loves reading.
Our school welcomes external partnerships, and we are lucky to have support from ‘Beanstalk Readers’ who work with our children every week, providing additional support for our vulnerable readers. In addition, we have volunteers from GSAL, who further enhance our reading provision, providing support as crucial role models for our children.
We inspire our children through regular workshops with motivational authors; we have recently welcomed two amazing authors into our school, Kate Pankhurst and Fay Evans, both of whom helped to not only inspire, but further develop our children’s overall love of reading.
From Reception to Year 2, reading is taught through the RWI phonics programme. On completion of the RWI phonics programme, our children continue to learn to read through Whole Class Reading sessions. Children have two reading sessions each week relating to their class novel, and three reading sessions relating to their learning within the wider curriculum. We are ‘learning to read, through reading to learn’.
Class novels and non-fiction texts are carefully chosen to encourage a love of reading, whilst ensuring that we cover a wide range of genres and authors within each year group. In addition to variety, our chosen novels also ensure that there is progression and challenge across the school.
During Whole Class Reading, there is an emphasis on vocabulary, the retrieval of facts, sequencing, prediction and inference skills, all carefully interwoven within each session.
Throughout school, vulnerable readers are identified and monitored closely. One to one reading occurs consistently within every class to support these children.
At Parklands, we aim to develop a love of reading, so children are encouraged to read for pleasure at home and within school. Teachers are our most valuable asset when developing a love of reading; we ensure that we read (with passion) a variety of high-quality texts to the children on a daily basis, all of which can be seen on our Reading Spine.
Parklands Reading Strategy.
Our aim is that every child leaves Parklands Primary School a confident, fluent reader who loves reading.
- Daily Reading Lesson
* EY’s / Y1 – Daily Read Write Inc. Phonics Lessons
* Y2 – Moving to Guided Reading on completion of the scheme
* KS2 – Daily Whole Class Reading Lessons with a focus on a variety of Reading Skills
* Opportunities to discuss, talk and debate - Children Read to Daily
* EY’s / KS1 / KS2 – Teachers read to children every day for a minimum of 15 minutes (see Reading Spine) - Reading For Pleasure
* Mini Libraries in each class of quality books to engage emotions; be diverse; show different perspectives; include favourites from previous years so all children can access. - Reading Records
* Completed at home to share the love of a new story - Independent Reading Time
* Class sets of high-quality reading books from Leeds CC Library service, in addition to class ‘mini libraries’ - Promote a Love of Reading
* Teachers model a love of reading and are excited about books
* A wide range of authors and genres are discussed
* Opportunities to share books, opinions and authors - Reading At Home
*Reading Books are sent home at least twice a week and if the books need changing more often, then they will be changed
* Additional support will be given to children who require it - Reading Every Lesson
* Wider curriculum teaching linked to quality texts and novels
* Reading and integration of texts incorporated where possible into all lessons
* Quality modelling and engaging with texts as a Historian, a Geographer, a Scientists etc
*** Catch Up
Some children may require additional support in Reading. This is achieved by:
- EY’s / KS1 interventions in addition to normal Reading Strategies for the lowest 20%
* Additional Phonics
* Small Group Work - KS2 interventions in addition to normal Reading Strategies for the lowest 20%
* Additional Phonics – LKS2 access RWI programme, UKS2 access RWI Fresh Start programme
* Individual Reading
* Small Group Book sharing to develop retrieval, inference and comprehension - Vulnerable Groups
* SEND children are heard reading by an adult at least 3 times a week (in addition to the normal Reading Strategies)
* Diversity and Equality evident throughout chosen books (see Reading Spine) - Storytelling
* Opportunities for children to listen to, act out and discuss stories
* Opportunities for children to tell stories
* Stories read by teachers, adults, authors, visitors (including audio books and Author Zooms)
Phonics and Early Reading
In school:
At Parklands Primary we follow the Letters and Sounds scheme of phonics teaching through ‘Read Write Inc.’ We work in Partnership with the Great Heights English Hub. We have a newly appointed Phonics leader. Each child in Reception and Yr1 has a daily, minimum 20-minute phonics lesson, following the teaching sequence of revisit/ review – teach – practise – apply. In Yr2, children access a balance of both phonic and spelling punctuation and grammar (SPAG) lessons based on their individual needs and attainment. Reception and KS1 children are taught through streamed groups, based on regular assessments so that children’s learning needs are accurately matched to the correct provision. Small phonic sessions or interventions are delivered by teaching assistants and overseen by the class teacher, to provide complimentary teaching.
Sessions are lively, fast-paced, and fun. In a session, children are taught either phonemes/ digraphs/ trigraphs, high frequency and/or tricky words and these are consolidated through reading and writing. There is an emphasis on paired work and lots of opportunities to speak and listen, as well as to read and write the sounds.
At the end of Year 1 children take the national Phonics Test, which tests children’s phonic knowledge. Here, they are required to read real and non-sense words, applying the skills they have learnt. Ideally children will have completed and consolidated Phase 5 during Year 1 and Phase 6 during Year 2, so that they can focus more on higher-level comprehension using increasingly challenging texts. Any child that does not complete the phonics programme will continue learning phonics throughout Year 3/4 during interventions.
Reading in Key Stage 2
In school:
In school, we have developed a reading offer to ensure that every child becomes a fluent, confident and enthusiastic reader with opportunities to read, discuss and listen to stories.
*Your child will receive a Daily reading lesson 5 days a week, where they will be taught a range of reading skills.
*Your child’s teacher will read a story from the Reading Spine to the whole class every day.
*There will be opportunities to read across other subjects with the use of high-quality texts (History, Geography, Science etc)
*We have invested in a high-quality selection of reading books for each class. These are based on The Book Trust 100 Best Books and The Great Heights English Hub recommendations. These books cover a range of genres recommended in the DfE Reading framework and are available for your child to read in school and also to take home to read with their family.
At home
To support your child’s development of reading skills and enjoyment of reading, we have developed these opportunities to engage with reading as a family:
*Your child will bring home a Book of their choice, matched to their reading ability
*A high-quality Reading Record Journal
*Research shows that the quality of reading, reading together and sharing and discussing stories all have the most impact on successfully developing reading. Each week, your child’s teacher will encourage you to complete the reading journal with them. You can also use it to record discussions you have about books, authors, characters and settings.
*Please ensure your child’s Reading Book and Reading Records are brought into school every day so that we can closely monitor progress and engagement.