Reading and Phonics
Reading
Our intention is to create pupils who have a life-long love and passion for reading. We aim for all of our pupils to be confident and fluent readers who read a wide variety of texts, often choosing to read for pleasure as well as to learn. Our newly refurbished Primary School Library is accessed by all pupils across the school each week, the library has a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books to choose from as well as National Geographic magazines to browse at their leisure. All of our books are available for the pupils to choose one book and take it home each week. Our pupils will not only be passionate about reading, they will also develop a full range of comprehension skills to deepen their understanding of what they read.
In EYFS and KS1, pupils are provided with either 1 or 2 reading books each week at an appropriate reading level for them to develop their understanding and confidence in reading. In KS2, pupils are encouraged to select their own reading book from an age appropriate section of the library which can be changed when they have read it. We have also subscribed to ‘Reading Eggs ’which gives pupils and parents a huge range of books at the pupil’s level to choose from as well as short lessons the pupils can engage in anywhere at any time. Pupils are rewarded for reading at home with the chance to earn a ‘Golden Token’ for our reading vending machine.
Our reading curriculum has been designed so that children learn to read and then read to learn. Teachers have high expectations for all of our pupils and secure reading subject and pedagogical knowledge to ensure all children reach their full capability. We do this through:
- Phonics lessons in EYFS and KS1. Pupils who need further support in Years 2 and above are also attend phonics interventions.
- RAMP sessions where pupils in Years 1-6 develop their reading and comprehension skills in a structured lesson.
- English lessons which focus on a specific text, which is unpicked during the lesson.
- Daily whole class readers at the end of the day.
- Individual readers / individual reading time
As we want our pupils to foster a love of reading, we integrate reading at every opportunity in the school day and pupils are given a minimum of 15 minutes reading time each day. To develop the pupil’s love of reading, we also expect pupils in EYFS and Year 1 to read for 10 minutes each day, pupils in Years 2-3 to read for 15 minutes each day and pupils in Years 4-6 to read for 25 minutes each day. This is expected to be recorded in pupil planners – pupils in KS2 can record what they have read and ask an adult to sign their planner to confirm this where as in EYFS & KS1, parents are expected to record and sign the reading.
As well as reading within the school curriculum, we also have many events over the school year where we continue to foster pupil’s love of reading on days such as Verse Speaking, Roald Dahl Day, World Book Day and Drop Everything And Read (DEAR).
Phonics
Phonics is a way in which we teach our pupils how to read and write. Pupils are taught to hear, identify and use the different sounds within the English Language. Pupils are taught to blend and segment words right from the first day at Queen Elizabeth’s Primary School. Pupils are introduced to all 44 phonemes by Lent term in Year 1. With all of these phonemes at their fingertips, pupils learn to become fluent readers and writers. In EYFS and KS1, pupils attend a daily 20 minutes phonics session which moves through the 6 Phases of Phonics through repetition, practise and fun games. In Year 1, Pupil undertake the statutory Phonics Screening Check to check that they can correctly decode words. If pupils do not pass this check, intervention will be put into place in Year 2 when they will resit the check again. Further intervention will then follow into Year 3 if necessary to ensure pupils are fully supported whilst they find their passion for reading.
