Reading

“Reading is fundamental to education. Proficiency in reading, writing and spoken language is vital for pupils’ success. Through these, they develop communication skills for education and for working with others, in school, in training and at work.”

(The Reading Framework, 2023)

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” — Frederick Douglass.

At Abbey Primary School, staff and pupils value reading as the ‘key’ needed to ‘unlock’ the whole curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to develop an innate love of literature from the moment they enter school. As such, high priority is given to teaching pupils to read as quickly as possible with the aim of developing accurate, automatic, and expressive readers in readiness for the demands of their secondary education, and adult life.

The systematic teaching of phonics, alongside high-quality reading resources, ensures that all pupils read fluently to make the shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”.  In daily reading lessons, pupils' reading ability develops to the point where they rely less on their working memory to decode words, learning to read them by sight with increasing fluency, enabling comprehension of the text.

High value is given to the role of reading for developing and maintaining pupils’ emotional well-being. Pupils are encouraged to discuss the experiences, ideas and feelings encountered through stories, with the aim of feeling more equipped to deal with their own personal, social, and emotional challenges, and develop empathy for the lives and situations of others.

Early Reading

Reading is an essential life skill that enables children to be able to independent in their thinking and learning. At Abbey Primary School, children learn to read through the expert delivery of the Read, Write Inc. systematic, synthetic phonics programme (RWI). RWI is a DfE validated, inclusive reading programme that teaches all children, from the EYFS upwards into the spring term of Year 2.

At the heart of the RWI programme is focused, rigorous teaching of synthetic phonics. Children learn the 44 common phonemes (sounds) in the English language and to sound out words for reading (decoding). Children also learn to encode (put sounds together to spell words) with a focus on the correct formation of letters.

In phonics lessons, we teach children to:

• Decode texts effortlessly so that their working memory is free to comprehend what they read;
• Spell effortlessly so that their working memory can be directed towards the composition of ideas, vocabulary and sentence structure in writing.

In phonics lessons, children:

• Interact with each other and the teacher;
• Actively engage in learning;
• Feel successful, with their efforts being affirmed by their peers, as well as the teacher
• Fully understanding what they are learning and why.

Lessons encompass the following features - the 5 Ps!

• Pace - engaging all children, all the time;
• Praise - encouraging and praising effective learning behaviours;
• Purpose - modelling and 'thinking out loud' to ensure all children understand what, and why, they are learning;
• Passion - showing a love for the lessons through energy, enthusiasm and a little exaggeration;
• Perseverance - every child is determined to be a successful reader.

Phonics lessons are taught every morning in Foundation Stage and KS1, with children being placed in small working groups around school, according to their phonics ability. The Read, Write, Inc. lead teacher quality assures lessons to check that children are appropriately supported and challenged. Where children aren't making the expected progress, same-day interventions and pre- and post-learning take place with the school's specialist tutors. This ensures that any gaps are closed quickly, via a 'keep-up, not catch-up approach'.

Summative assessments take place every half term to ensure that children are accessing the correct phonics group, in addition to the formative assessments that occur in every lesson.

An Overview of Read Write Inc. Phonics by Ruth Miskin

Ruth Miskin provides an overview of Read Write Inc. Phonics, a complete teaching programme for 5-7 year-olds who are learning to read and write. Find out more here, Overview of Read Write Inc by Ruth Miskin

Correct Pronunciation of Set 1 and Set 2 sounds.

Using pure sounds helps children to blend sounds for reading and segment words for writing, so that no extra sounds are accidentally inserted into words.

Click here to see a video which demonstrates correct and pure pronunciation of the sounds that children will learn in phonics.

Information about 'Read, Write, Inc.' for Parents/Carers

Click here to be taken to a web page with more information for parents and carers about the Read Write Inc programme.  This includes a list of frequently asked questions.

Phonics Screening Check

A statutory ‘Phonics Screening Check’ takes place in the Summer Term of Year One. This is carried out on a one-to-one basis with the class teacher and is used to ensure that pupils are making sufficient progress in their ability to decode words.

Pupils who do not pass the check in Year One receive targeted support and intervention. A further opportunity to pass the check is provided in the summer term of Year Two. If a pupil does not pass the screening check after two attempts, phonics continues to be taught in an age-appropriate way in Key Stage Two. Even if children do pass the phonics check, and follow-up assessment shows their barrier to be their phonic knowledge, they will continue to learn phonics in Lower Key Stage 2, and, in an age-appropriate way in Upper Key Stage 2 if required. 

Daily Reading Lessons

In all year groups, fluency, accuracy, and automaticity are given high priority. In daily lessons, pupils benefit from hearing their teachers read, as good role models, with the aim of mirroring the same, pace, accuracy and expression that makes reading accessible and therefore enjoyable. As a result of exposure to high-quality texts that are carefully chosen, children experience and enjoy a wide range of stories and non-fiction that challenge and inspire them.

Daily reading lessons centre around the following principles:

• Explicit teaching of new vocabulary:

Prior to each lesson, teachers identify tier 2 and tier 3 words that are pivotal to understanding the text. The meaning and pronunciation of these words are taught at the beginning of each lesson.

• Modelled expressive reading: by the teacher who is the expert.
• A range of strategies to practise fluent reading, including:
  • Echo reading: Pupils echo what has been read by the teacher.
  • Choral reading: All pupils follow the lead of the teacher and read in unison.
  • Paired reading: Pupils practise reading sentences or paragraphs whilst the other listens.
  • Independent reading: Children read an increasing amount of text as they become more fluent.
• Repeated re-reading:

Pupils become experts at reading the same passage of text, thereby gaining a secure mental model of what good reading sounds like and understanding that this is sometimes necessary to fully comprehend the text.

• Skilled questioning:

Teachers plan questions, and opportunities for discussion, at key points within the text to support and expand the children’s understanding of what is being read – these questions and discussions draw on a range of relevant reading skills such as inference, prediction, summarising etc. Teachers take the opportunity to support pupils whose existing background knowledge does not yet allow them to access the content.

• Challenging texts:

The selection of challenging texts enables children to have high aspirations in reading by bridging the gap between what they already know and understand and what they can potentially achieve.

• Modelling comprehension skills:

Teachers explicitly model the internal narrative process (asking questions, making comments, and linking ideas) that established readers use as they unpick the meaning and content of new texts.

Book-Banded Reading Books

To enable pupils to practise the learning that takes place in reading lessons, they are allocated a book from the book band that correlates to their level of reading. These books are those that pupils can read fluently, thus enabling them to focus on comprehending the text they are reading. Children who are still learning phonics in Key Stage Two read books that enable them to practise the sounds they have learnt in the context of an age-appropriate book.

Assessment

The level of the book-banded reading books accessed by pupils is reviewed formatively by class teachers who listen to pupils read both on an individual basis and during lessons. Progress in reading is supported by verbal feedback. Ongoing assessment methods support teachers in identifying and planning the next steps for pupils.

Summative assessments in Years One to Six are carried out on a termly basis during a whole school assessment week. These help to verify the teacher judgements made and enable the tracking of progress.

Reading at Home

Pupils’ engagement with reading at home is monitored with the expectation that they practise at least 5 times a week. Where pupils struggle to maintain the expectation, provision is facilitated with an adult in school. Pupils’ reading diaries provide a means by which parents can contribute to their child’s reading journey.

Reading for Pleasure

At Abbey Primary School, pupils are encouraged to develop a lifelong love of reading from an early age and an exciting reading culture is interwoven in many different ways.

These include:

• Daily story time
• Exciting class ‘Treasure Chests’
• Class library sessions
• After school reading clubs
• Subscriptions to the Education Library Service
• Themed, celebration days such as World Book Day and National Poetry Day
• Themed story assemblies linked to the wider world (e.g. National Coding Week or Mental Health Day)

The much-loved ‘Treasure Chests’ in each classroom are stocked with a wide selection of modern and classic literature, which includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry books. These consist of age-appropriate, yet challenging, texts by a wide range of authors that complement the wider curriculum, whilst igniting curiosity and promoting further reading in line with the personal interests and preferences of the pupils. These books are intended to extend pupils’ repertoire and ensure that all pupils have access to high-quality texts to read independently or share with family members at home.

Leaders and teachers actively promote books to pupils, in assemblies, in reading lessons, during weekly library visits and by facilitating conversations about the books available within the classroom collections. A tangible reading culture is apparent as pupils recommend books to each other and make plans to read as many as they can from the class collection during each academic year. The treasure chest books are always a source of delight to the children as they enter each class - they ALL look forward to lifting the lid to countless new adventures!