Reflective Readers
What We Intend To Do
“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."
- Maya Angelou, author and poet
We want all our pupils to develop a love of learning English through exposure to, and immersion in, rich experiences of literature at all levels. This means that we both read and encourage pupils to read widely across genres and cultures; we teach children to be curious about language and to be creative, and we teach children to explore language and to delve deeply into how language is used to create ideas, both spoken and written down.
We want all our pupils to receive a full range of opportunities to develop the key skills of English within a broad and balanced curriculum, which includes application of reading skills across all subjects.
The school intends for children to:
• use their skills for reading for pleasure
• read confidently and with enjoyment
• develop a strong and systematic knowledge of phonics, which underpins all reading
• make links between phonics and whole words
• develop their interest and perseverance in reading a wide variety of texts for a wide variety of purposes
• have opportunities to become secure in using correct English language terminology
• communicate their ideas about what they have read
• make links with other subjects and develop use of English across the curriculum
How We Teach Reading
Teaching and learning takes place through high quality daily English lessons, delivered by a class teacher and supported by a classroom assistant. The time given to English reading each day varies between key stages, however, each day, all children will be provided with the opportunity to read and to practice reading.
In the Early Years Foundation stage (Reception) children are given opportunities to:
• speak, listen and represent ideas in their activities
• use communication, language and literacy in every part of the curriculum
• listen to and read a range of texts
• become immersed in an environment rich in print and possibilities for communication
In the Early Years, Year 1 and Year 2, there is a greater emphasis on phonics for reading, with extra time given to develop these skills. We use Little Wandle to deliver our phonics teaching in phonics phases 1-5 and these sessions are delivered daily to Reception and Year 1 and to Year 2 pupils who require them. Children in Year 2 will be assessed on entry and it will be ensured that phase 5 is thoroughly known by children and intervention provided for those who need it, before beginning phase 6. You can read our specific phonics policy here.
We use Big Cat books, associated to Little Wandle, to deliver guided reading group sessions three times a week, which work together with developing phonics knowledge. Children receive group reading daily led by their class teacher, and read one-to-one at least three times per week.
Intervention programmes are implemented to support children where appropriate and daily intervention takes place through Little Wandle catch-up sessions for any child needing them.
In Years 2 to 6, the usual provision is daily reading in the form of guided or reciprocal reading groups three times a week, where the greater emphasis is on comprehension, once text reading is fluent. This is alternated with Rockerbox news – a provider of non-fiction articles, where teacher-set articles are read alongside personal choices.
All children in Years 2 to 6 continue to be listened to read one-to-one, at least once a week, and those needing catch-up are listened to more frequently. Daily teacher-led group reading of spine texts also takes place.
Our phonics programme Little Wandle is exclusively and rigorously used for the teaching of phonics. However, throughout the school a variety of teaching and learning practices are adopted for reading across the curriculum, which include:
• identifying pupils' misconceptions and valuing their mistakes as starting points for learning
• giving time for pupils to think and valuing their oral contributions
• fostering an ethos in which all children feel they can contribute
• high expectations
Our classroom practice will include:
• ‘I am a Clever Writer’ approach used throughout the school which introduces new vocabulary
• discussions with pupils of their success criteria for meeting objectives
• linking reading to a class topic or a purpose in the 'real' world
• working walls, displays and resources
To support good practice, all classrooms will have:
• stage-appropriate phonics and/or vocabulary prompt cards, resources and pictorial representations, available in the classroom for daily use
• English vocabulary displayed so that children can use this in the communication of their understanding
• a working wall for developing current understanding during lesson time
• displays that encourage a positive attitude and enthusiasm towards reading for all groups of children
The English curriculum at Sherborne is delivered using the National Curriculum (2014) and the EYFS follows the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, 2021.
How We Know Children Are Learning Well
The impact of teaching and learning English Reading is shown through confident readers, speakers, and writers, who enjoy all aspects of English and who demonstrate excellence in their attitudes to reading, speaking, and writing.
We recognise and assess how successfully the school's aims are met through every day monitoring carried out by class teachers and teaching assistants. This is done through observation, marking and feedback, discussions with the child and information gleaned from online platforms.
The English subject leader will monitor standards through lesson observations, pupil conferences, and planning audits.
Three times a year (before Christmas, Easter and then end of the Summer Term), teachers make formal judgements of the children's attainment and progress in English Reading. This is submitted to the Headteacher for review. A meeting takes places following this, where children in need of support over the next twelve weeks are identified.
In the EYFS a formal Baseline Assessment is made in September and reported assessments are carried out in September, May and July. Ongoing English assessment in EYFS is recorded and shared with parents via Tapestry online journal.
At the end of Year 1 the children sit the Phonics Screening Test and those who do not pass re-sit the paper at the end of Year 2. Statutory tests are taken at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2, during May, and reported to the LA and DfE to monitor attainment and progress made.