Reading and Phonics

The Power of Reading

'Of all the subjects taught in school, reading is first among equals - the most singular in importance because all others rely on it.
Excellence in almost any academic subject requires strong reading.'
Reading Reconsidered, 2016

At Elloughton Primary School, we are so passionate about reading. We believe that reading is the key to unlocking so many opportunities for our pupils. Throughout the week, pupils will hear high quality, rich texts being read to them, they will also have opportunities to read a text of their choosing for pleasure. Every child takes at least one book home to read - these are appropriate for their age and matched perfectly to their ability to decode. Throughout the week, we also teach reading fluency and comprehension in our whole class reading lessons.

Across the school, children are heard reading 1:1. Across Key Stage 1, and in some parts of Key Stage 2, pupils also take part in small group reading sessions. What is more, we also welcome volunteers in to hear pupils read and we hold reading intervention sessions for pupils who require support in either phonics, an aspect of fluency or comprehension. We are so proud of everything that we do to develop the pupils' reading ability. What is more, we also work hard to inspire a life-long love of reading. Please read on to see our reading provision in more detail.

Reading Scheme
Our decodable reading books are organised in the given sequence of the Bug Club programme and reading books build letter-sound correspondences cumulatively. In addition to daily phonic lessons, early reading is developed through ‘group reading’ sessions. During these sessions reading is taught in small groups to develop phonic knowledge, fluency and comprehension skills. These sessions develop pupils' confidence in reading texts/books that closely match the letter-sound correspondences at home and at school. Pupils practise sounding out the words in the story and read exception words before they read the text/book then are expected to re-read these texts/books at school and home to build fluency. Any pupils falling behind are given extra practice to re-read these texts/books and they continue to read books in a progressive sequence until they can decode unfamiliar words confidently.

Early Reading
By the end of Key Stage 1, we aspire to support pupils from learning to read, to reading to learn.

‘Learn to read accurately by the age of six...read to learn for the rest of your life’

Our aims:
To ensure all pupils make speedy progress in phonics and reading

We start teaching phonics in Nursery/Reception and follow the Bug Club sequence of sounds, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.

Pupils’ progress in reading is dependent upon both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. All teachers have the highest expectation that children will become proficient readers by the end of Key Stage 1 through our systematic, consistent implementation of our chosen phonic programme.
The intent behind our phonics approach is to:

Deliver a high-quality systematic synthetic phonics programme of proven effectiveness is followed with rigour and fidelity so that children are taught consistently to use phonics as the route to reading unknown words.
Ensure pace of the phonics programme is maintained so that children become fluent, independent readers by the end of year 1. 
Ensure children’s reading books show a cumulative progression in phonics knowledge that match the grapheme-phoneme correspondences they know to support decoding skills.

Phonics is implemented  through the Bug Club programme. The programme begins as children enter Reception; with the expectation that they will be fluent readers having secured word recognition skills by the end of key stage one.

We ensure the teaching of phonics is systematic and consistent across school. The lessons are always taught at a fast pace to ensure children are highly engaged for the sessions. The teaching structure is progressive, terminology and resources are consistent.
Teaching extends beyond ‘dedicated time’ and is applied and reinforced when appropriate throughout the day. Teaching of the programme is not necessarily limited to just phonic sessions and is evident across all curriculum areas and in EYFS/KS1 provision.
Children’s decodable reading books are carefully matched to their phonic knowledge and which do not require use of alternative strategies. These books are organised in the given sequence in our chosen SSP programme i.e. reading books build letter-sound correspondences cumulatively, therefore children’s reading books are fully decodable at child’s current level to aid fluency.
Parents are helped to know how best to support children in learning sounds through our phonics workshops and information videos throughout the year.

Phonics is taught in a whole class approach. Any gaps in knowledge are addressed through 5-minute daily interventions (additional to whole class phonics sessions) from the start of the year in order for children to ‘keep up’ with their peers. Therefore, the children then move through the phase groups as one group together, Regular progress meetings are held with all reading teachers in KS1 to monitor children making slowest progress. Children in danger of falling behind, or who are working under expected levels (lower 20%), are swiftly identified and enough additional support provided to enable them to keep up.

The impact of our consistent and systematic teaching of our phonics programme is that children become fluent readers by the age of KS1. In addition, our Phonics Screening data was 89% in 2019.

Early Reading and Writing- a quick video which provides an insight into how we teach early reading and writing in EYFS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W69eQSLpa2M&authuser=0

National Phonic Screening
All children in Year One will be screened using the National Assessment materials in the summer term. The test usually takes place in June and consists of children reading 40 words which are a variety of real and pseudo (made up) words.
If a child in Year One does not reach the required level then additional support will be put in place in order for the child to make accelerated progress with their reading and writing. They will be retested when they are in Year Two. This data will be submitted to the local Authority.

Reading in Key Stage One

In Key Stage One, we read with the children regularly on a 1:1 basis. They read books that closely match phonics teaching and are phonetically decodable. To ensure fidelity, these books are chosen from our core reading spine Pearson's Bug Club.
Children also experience books that are slightly more challenging thus exposing them to a wide range of genre, themes and vocabulary.

Whole Class Reading

Children experience reading teaching as a whole class. We look at fiction, non-fiction and poetry whilst teaching a range of reading skills.
What is more, they also experience being read to by an adult as well as reading for pleasure.

Children also experience books that are slightly more challenging thus exposing them to a wide range of genre, themes and vocabulary.

Reading corners

Every classroom includes resources enabling for pupils to read for pleasure. Reading corners, cushions, blankets and so much more is used to create a pleasurable, comfortable experience that aims to maximise the enjoyment of the reading process.

Reading in Key Stage Two

Children are read with regularly on a 1:1 basis.
Children who are fluent readers, read books that match their ability to decode, challenge their thinking and broaden their concepts of theme and genre.
Children who still require some support when decoding read books that are phonetically decodable. These books are chosen to support their word recognition, as well as develop their comprehension skills.

Whole Class Reading

Whole class reading continues into Key Stage Two. Children read a rich, quality text in depth. They read to establish meaning and read to analyse meaning. The books are methodically chosen to ensure challenge of all abilities, instil a love of reading and develop breadth and depth of understanding in other curriculum areas.

We celebrate World Book Day every year. Here are some wonderful competition entries to our 'Extreme Reading' competition where children were challenged with reading in the most extreme places!

Book Talk

Reading with your child can support them in developing a love of reading. The OU have come up with guides and videos to support parents with this.

https://ourfp.org/supporting-rah/book-chat-reading-with-your-child/

Book Chat Guide
Book Chat Poster

Reading Aloud

Stories online for children aged 3-5
Stories online for children aged 5-7
Stories online for children aged 7-9
Stories online for children aged 9-11

Every month, the Book Trust review dozens of books for children and teenagers. Here are their recommendations: New children's books we love
Every year, the Book Trust publishes their 'Great Book Guide'. Here are their most up to date list of 100 books that they think are great – and so will children!
Great Books Guide

Picture Books

Picture books are wonderful for all ages in primary schools and are not to be limited to the younger classrooms alone. Here are some suggestions for all ages:
Year 1 picture books about fear and worry
Year 1 picture books promoting diversity
Lower Key Stage Two Picture Book Recommendations
Upper Key Stage Two Picture Book Recommendations
The Best Wordless Picture books for Primary School Children

High Quality Texts

We truly believe in the power of a rich, high quality text.
If you would like some suggestions then please see the following lists of suggested texts for each year group.

Suggested Texts for Pre-school and Nursery
Suggested Texts for Reception Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 1 Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 2 Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 3 Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 4 Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 5 Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 6 Pupils

For more support with selecting texts appropriate for your child's age, click here.
For more book lists including 'Books of the Month', 'Ones to Watch' as well as poetry and magazine subscription suggestions, click here.