CAPTAIN WEBB PRIMARY SCHOOL AND NURSERY
Reading Curriculum Statement
Reading Curriculum Statement
Intent
At Captain Webb, we value reading as a key life skill and are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers. We believe that the teaching of reading is integral to a child’s understanding and appreciation of the world around them. We aim to provide children with experiences that will lead to rich language development so that at the end of their primary education with us, they are empowered with a breadth of vocabulary that they can build on in their future prospects.
Our reading curriculum strives to foster a love for reading and we believe that that all children should experience an abundance of quality, engaging texts across the curriculum.
We want reading to be the golden thread running through a child’s journey at Captain Webb. When they leave us, we want pupils to possess the reading skills and love of literature which will help them to enjoy and access any aspects of learning they encounter in the future
Implementation
Through the delivery of our reading curriculum we ensure a consistent and robust teaching and learning of early reading and phonics in FS and KS1, so that pupils are able to read with increased speed and fluency and access the wider curriculum.
We follow the Read, Write Inc Phonics programme; a systematic, synthetic phonics scheme that is validated by the Department for Education. For more information, please follow this link.
During Key Stage 1, children move from the decoding stage to comprehension. As they progress through the key stage, their books move away from being matched to their Phonic level and towards reading for understanding.
In Year 2, children begin taking part in daily Guided Reading sessions. We use Reading VIPERS to focus on the skills of Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explain, Retrieve and Sequence. Throughout Key Stage 1, children access colour banded books matched to their reading ability to read independently. For more information, please follow this link.
Children continue to take part in Guided Reading sessions in Key Stage 2, with carefully chosen, high quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts. The focus continues to be on VIPERS, with Summarise replacing Sequence. At this stage it becomes vitally important that children use evidence from the text to justify their thoughts, opinions and ideas. Children read a variety of fiction and non-fiction in other subject lessons for research and enquiry.
To find out which exciting texts your child will be reading, please click your child’s year group reading spine below.
Teachers regularly read with the children so the children get to know and love all sorts of stories, poetry and information books. We deliver daily story time and daily poem sessions to all pupils.
To find out the exciting story time texts and poetry texts your child will listen to this year, please click this link.
All classrooms have attractive book corners where the children have access to 100 quality books, both fiction and non-fiction to help embed their love of books, stories and reading.
How do we enrich the curriculum?
We are very lucky to have a newly refurbished library which has designated reading areas. Children can access the library at an allotted class time and read in the tranquil and child-centred surroundings. Books are organised by key stages therefore easy to access and can be loaned for home or classroom use. We ensure time is allocated to reading for pleasure and give children time to read within the school day; this is very important to us. Book recommendation boards are displayed throughout school to inform pupils are new and popular texts across the age ranges. The children are given the opportunity to loan these books from Mrs Passey and write reviews on these books for our school newsletter.
At Captain Webb, we also have a range of opportunities within the academic year to further enhance reading opportunities for our children. Regular trips to the local library, engaging with national reading events including World Book Day, Roald Dahl Day and National Poetry day. Each year we invite external theatre companies into school to deliver whole school productions and drama workshops for our pupils, recent examples of which are Christmas Carol and Jack and the Beanstalk.
We have also had Dance workshops based on 'Bringing Books to Life'. Year 3 story focus was Charlie and the chocolate factory, Year 4 focus was Alice in Wonderland and Year 5 focus was The Jungle Book
How can you help your child?
EYFS and KS1
To support their reading journey your child will bring different sorts of books home from school. When your child is in the early stages of learning to read you can help by encouraging them to sound out the letters in words and then to ‘blend’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Please refer to the Phonics Curriculum page on the school website for further information.
Sometimes your child might bring home a picture book that they know well, encourage your child to tell you the story out loud; ask them questions about things that happen or what they think about some of the characters in the story. We assess the children’s’ progress regularly and send home books that are matched to their ability.
KS2
All pupils in KS2 will bring home a copy of their guided reading text to read at home. The class teacher will provide information in regards to homework expectations for reading the guided reading text. E.g. We would like you to read chapters 1 – 3 tonight. We also encourage all pupils to loan books from our school library to enjoy at home.
The school’s Homework Policy states that all children are expected to read at home every day. This is for a maximum of 10 minutes. Reading regularly at home helps to develop children’s reading skills.
Making the time to talk to your children about the books they choose and listening to them reading aloud regularly can make all the difference. Children need to understand why we read. They need to experience the range of feelings that a book can create or the power that can be gained from accessing information. Reading must not only be confined to stories. Many children love reading comics, magazines, newspapers, information books and poetry. All of these reading activities should be encouraged.
Children in Key Stage 2 will all be at very different stages of development, but even for the most fluent readers there is a need for parental support. Most parents or carers are able to create quality time to share a book individually with one child. This is the time when children can develop a much deeper understanding of the books that they are reading. Rather than reading at home being ‘reading practice’, it should extend and enrich the reading experiences of school.
One of the most powerful ways in which parents can do this is to show real enthusiasm themselves. Your sense of excitement about books and stories, your anticipation about what will happen next in a story and a discussion about your own likes and dislikes, will greatly influence your child.
Reading Incentive
The reading incentive is a scheme to encourage children to read regularly throughout the term. To meet this, children need to:
1. read at least 4 times a week, at home
2. record daily, when and what they read in their Home School Reading Record
3. adults to sign off
From Reception to Year 4: adults to listen to children read before signing entry.
Children in Years 5 and 6 will read across a range of genres and adults will initial to confirm that their child has read.
Teachers will check the Home School Reading Record daily and record for the end of term reward. The reward is a pre-arranged treat which the children will be informed about at the start of each new term.
Impact
By the time children leave Captain Webb, they are competent readers who can recommend books to their peers, have a thirst for reading a range of genres including poetry, and participate in discussions about books, including evaluating an author’s use of language and the impact this can have on the reader. They can also read books to enhance their knowledge and understanding of all subjects on the curriculum, and communicate their research to a wider audience.
‘I learnt to read through Phonics. I know all my sounds now and can read most words without sounding out. I enjoy reading and look forward to choosing books from our school library’ – Emerson B, Year 2
‘We read exciting novels in Guided Reading; they’re intriguing. We’ve read two books by Berlie Doherty now. Both books I have enjoyed thoroughly. I will try to find more books written by her in our school library.’ – Morgan H, Year 6
‘I enjoyed reading the book about the trenches. It was a non-fiction text which helped us find facts for our writing and helped us understand our history topic more too.’ – Emilia W, Year 6
Attainment in reading is measured using statutory assessments such as the end of EYFS, Key Stage 1 and 2 and following the outcomes in the Year 1 Phonics Screening check. Additionally, we track our own reading attainment through the use of RWI half termly and screening assessments, SALFORD Reading Assessments and ongoing teacher assessment.
Assessment data shows that..
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82% of children passed the Year 1 Phonics Screening check in 2019, in line with national expectations.
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KS1 results have seen a steady rise and in 2019, 78% reached ARE with 26% reaching greater depth which is above national expectations.
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In 2019, 76% of KS2 children achieved ARE in reading which is above national expectations. 20% of pupils achieved greater depth.
The impact of this implementation was also noted in our 2019 OFSTED:
The teaching of reading is done very well. Staff are trained in how to teach phonics and daily routines and systems make sure everyone gets what they need. Whether reading in class or at home, staff check that pupils have books they understand. If any pupil needs a helping hand, adults find extra time straight away and this stops them from falling behind. As pupils’ confidence grows, teachers introduce them to new books and authors. Most days, teachers read to the class during ‘page-turner time’. They encourage pupils to talk about books and share their views.
