Reading

Intent

Reading lies at the heart of the curriculum at Eaton Valley. We are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers and we believe reading is key for academic success.

At the heart of our strategy, is our drive to foster a love of reading, enriching children’s learning through carefully designed teaching activities that utilise imaginative stories and thought-provoking texts.

Reading is a skill that enables children to develop their learning across the wider curriculum and lays the foundations for success in future lines of study and employment. We recognise the importance of taking a consistent approach to the teaching of reading in order to close any gaps and to target the highest possible number of children attaining the expected standard or higher.

We have high expectations of all children and we encourage children to challenge themselves, persevere and pursue success, always ‘reaching for the stars’ and having ‘pride in all we do’. Our Reading closely links to our Phonics program.

As a school we will develop strong links between home and school reading to ensure children become lifelong readers and families are reading together.

Reading encourages Drama skills and these will be embedded into curriculum lessons so all children take part in a variety of dramatic techniques to aid their reading and writing skills.

Implementation

Teaching Reading, at Eaton Valley, takes place throughout the Curriculum where children are encouraged to apply the skills they have been taught in the focused Reading Lessons. Teaching in these sessions, across the school, focusses on developing pupils’ competence in both word reading and comprehension as outlined in the National Curriculum Programmes of Study for Reading.

Skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. For this Phonics element, we follow the Read Write Inc approach. Underpinning both is the understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words.

We have a range of ways in which we promote reading:

Book corners that are accessible, owned and loved by children, indoors and outdoors.
Using core books to plan for children’s interests and class topics
Early Reading: children have the opportunity to read to an adult via levelled reading books once a week. Books are changed regularly for both independent reading and books to be read as a family.
Having enthusiastic staff who share their excitement of books with children
Having books available in all areas of the classroom
Having opportunities for independent writing in all areas of the classroom
Using story props, sacks and boxes to enhance core books
Having well planned shared reading sessions that all practitioners are confident to take part in
Opportunities for children to learn ‘reading behaviours’, for example, the recognition that print conveys meaning, the left to right directionality of English text, the purpose of punctuation
Involving parents in understanding the importance of early literacy though parents’ workshops, newsletters, home shared reading and reading books etc
Listening to a variety of genres, for example, non-fiction, poems, taped stories, rhymes etc; Opportunities to retell and to act out stories using props and story maps – within the Talk for Writing framework.
Involving parents in understanding the importance of early literacy though parents’ workshops, newsletters, home shared reading and reading books etc
When using drama to use a range of dramatic techniques which are age appropriate to bring the book alive.
Using reading booklets to practice reading skills and comprehension skills across the wider curriculum in a way which is modelled to allow understanding.

Impact

By the time children leave Eaton Valley, 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 in the curriculum, and communicate their research to a wider audience.

They will use their knowledge of books to become confident in expressing themselves and apply these skills in a variety of year group productions.