Reading

Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement

Subject: English Reading

INTENT

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum at Arden Primary School. We aim to inspire a life-long love of books and reading which develops emotional, intellectual and cultural awareness so that all of our pupils can enjoy and participate fully in the world around them.

Our curriculum aims to develop, improve and extend our pupils’ ability in reading, therefore enabling them to enjoy reading for pleasure and engage in book talk; reading for information as well as helping them to build, develop and extend critical thinking skills across all subjects.

At Arden, children’s learning is developed and supported by class reads as well as visits from authors and workshops. We use visual literacy lessons and drama where appropriate to enhance lessons and learning. We believe that children learn best through an integrated curriculum and our reading is, where appropriate, linked to our year group topics using high quality texts to engage, support and strengthen comprehension skills. 

 Our priority is both the teaching of reading skills and the enjoyment of literature, enabling children to become confident, capable and ‘Ardent’ readers.

We aim for our pupils to acquire the knowledge and understanding for reading as set out by the Primary Curriculum for Key stages 1 and 2 in the following areas:

•  Word reading
• Comprehension (both reading and listening)

As children begin to read, we focus on decoding, primarily through phonics in addition to other strategies, e.g. whole word recognition, rhyme and context. As children build fluency, comprehension skills become our main area of focus with the development of retrieval, inference, visualisation, questioning, meaning repair, prediction and vocabulary.

We believe that high-quality literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry) and drama are the keys to motivating our children to read and instilling a love of literature.

IMPLEMENTATION

Early Reading

In Nursery and Reception classes, children follow a programme of daily phonics sessions to develop their word decoding and recognition skills. We use Read Write Inc. as well as rhyme, songs, stories and drama to build basic reading skills. Below are the reading stages children in Early Years at Arden:

Emerging stage:

· Children understand print has a purpose.

· Move from pretend reading to reading predictable books.

· Begin to build an array of favourite stories.

Beginning Stage:

· Hear and say initial sounds in words.

· segment and blend simple words using their phonics knowledge.

· Use their phonics knowledge to decode regular words and read common irregular words.

Fluent Stage:

· Children are automatic, fluent readers.

· They read with fluency, speed and comprehend what they have read.

· Children begin to read with some expression.

To complement and support phonics teaching, children’s understanding and fluency is developed through the use of high- quality literature. Through this, children are taught active reading skills of retrieval, inference, meaning repair, prediction, vocabulary and questioning using our whole school Read Aloud: Think Aloud approach and story maps. They begin to answer questions about what they have read using the skills they have been taught.

Reading in KS1

Year 1

In Year 1, children revise and consolidate their phonic knowledge in order to continue developing their reading skills and in readiness for the Year 1 phonics screening check. Children then continue their reading journey from EYES developing comprehension through fluency, speed, expression vocabulary. Reading skills sessions are taught daily and follow the Read Aloud: Think Aloud principles begun in EYES using quality books and all children are heard read daily in school using phonic- based books. To build their phonic knowledge, children take home a phonic book directly related to the sounds they have been learning as well as a reading for pleasure book at their level. Children also can access online reading practice at home through Bug Club as an additional phonic resource to practise and apply their phonetical knowledge.

In class, children also enjoy listening to shared stories and engage in book talk in lessons and during story time.

Year 2

In Year 2, children continue to build their phonic knowledge through daily phonics practice and continue consolidating their knowledge and application as well as alternative sounds and spelling rules.   

To complement phonics teaching, children engage in daily reading skills lessons where they continue to develop their Read Aloud: Think Aloud skills from EYES and Year 1 through engaging with a quality text, drama, book talk and reading activities.  

To further develop fluency, speed, expression, vocabulary and understanding, children are heard read every day during 1:1 reading sessions. They also enjoy listening to shared stories in class, engage in book talk and access online reading to further develop, consolidate and extend their skills through Bug Club and Accelerated Reader.

 Reading in KS2

In lower KS2 children follow a programme of:

Daily reading skills lessons which focus on continuing to develop fluency and understanding using Read Aloud: Think Aloud strategies to further build retrieval, inference, prediction, questioning, vocabulary and visualisation skills as well as recognising and repairing meaning breakdown. As in KS 1, children are exposed to a range of quality texts to engage, excite support, strengthen and challenge their reading skills. They begin to examine the use of figurative language, structure, authorial voice and intent in lessons and through book talk in 1:1 reading sessions and shared class books.   

. Where appropriate, phonics lessons to support and consolidate decoding and fluency.

 . Children are heard read a minimum of once a week during ERIC 1:1 reading time.

.  From our year group libraries, all children choose an Accelerated Reader book which corresponds to their reading age. Pupils’ progress in reading is monitored through the system through quizzes and half termly tests. Children also access reading at home through Accelerated Reader.

In upper KS2 children follow a programme of:

· Daily reading skills lessons which focus on continuing to develop fluency and understanding using Read Aloud: Think Aloud strategies to refine and extend retrieval, inference, prediction, questioning, vocabulary and visualisation skills as well as recognising and repairing meaning breakdown. Children are exposed to a range of quality texts to support, strengthen and challenge their reading skills and examine the use of figurative language, structure, authorial voice and intent in more detail and through book talk in 1:1 reading sessions and shared class books.  

. Where appropriate, phonics lessons to support and consolidate decoding and fluency.

.Children are heard read a minimum of once a week during ERIC 1:1 reading time.

. From our year group libraries, all children choose an Accelerated Reader book which corresponds to their reading age. Pupils’ progress in reading is monitored through the system through quizzes and half termly tests.  Children also access reading at home online using Accelerated Reader.

INTENDED IMPACT 

By the end of key stage 2, children will have acquired the skills necessary to read fluently; demonstrate a confident understanding of what they have read across a range of subjects, including digital reading platforms such as emails, texts, Tweets and other online platforms so that they are equipped for the ‘reading world’ of the future.

Pupils will have experienced a rich, broad, balanced and inspiring reading curriculum. We aim to have instilled a love of reading which will inspire and ignite imaginations and a desire to read for enjoyment. Students will be able to talk with their peers and other adults about books from a wide variety of authors they have enjoyed reading. As a result of our Read Aloud: Think Aloud approach, children will demonstrate an ability to think critically, ask questions and challenge what they have read, in readiness for their transition to secondary school.   

The % of pupils working at age related expectations (ARE) within each year group will be at least, or close to, the national average. The % of pupils working at Greater Depth within each year group will be at least( or close to being) in line with the national average. We aim to ensure that every Arden pupil will reach their full reading potential irrespective of socio-economic backgrounds, ability race or gender.