Reading

Subject Leader: Claire Raney

Intent of the Reading Curriculum

At Warren Mead, we intend for all children to understand that reading in English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. Our children should appreciate the importance of reading as it facilitates their learning in every subject. We aim to provide children with a literacy-rich environment, high quality texts and inspiring learning opportunities, which will help them to:

1. Gain a life-long enjoyment of reading and books;
2. Read accurately, fluently and with understanding;
3. Apply a knowledge of structured synthetic phonics in order to decode unfamiliar words with increasing accuracy and speed; (Please see phonics intent document)
4. Be able to read with expression, clarity and confidence;
5. Develop a good linguistic knowledge of vocabulary and grammar;
6. Read and respond to a wide range of different types of texts;
7. Develop a deeper level of emotional intelligence and empathy;
8. Read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

Implementation of the Reading Curriculum

Phonics

For our phonics teaching we use the Read Write Inc. (RWI) programme.  In RWI lessons children in Key Stage 1 learn to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. (Please see phonics intent document).

Whole class reading teaching model

In the summer term of Year 2 and in Key Stage 2, reading is taught to the whole class at least three times a week for 45 minutes at a time. All children access the same texts with appropriate scaffolding from the teacher. The reading objectives from the National Curriculum are taught through child friendly reading roles (please see in the documents). Tasks are differentiated to accommodate the needs of every child.  Teachers focus on the fluency of reading in each lesson (including speed) and they model the specific skills in every session.  We intend to encourage all pupils to read widely across both high-quality texts; both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, to gain knowledge across the curriculum and develop their comprehension skills. It is our intention to ensure that, by the end of their primary education, all pupils can read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

Accelerated Reader

Accelerated Reader is a computer-based program that we use to monitor children’s reading practice, comprehension and progress. Children take short quizzes after reading a book to check if they’ve understood it. It’s intended to encourage children to read independently, at their own level and pace. Accelerated reader also have the Renaissance Home Connect app which allows parents to log in to the website and view the student’s reading progress towards goals. We encourage parents to check Home Connect regularly to encourage the children to take their quizzes and choose books within their ZPD range (Zone of Proximal Development). It is useful to know that if your child chooses a book towards the top end of their ZPD range, but doesn’t perform well in their quiz, encourage them to choose a lower-level next time to build their confidence. Similarly, if your child often chooses books towards the lower end of their ZPD, it is likely they need encouragement to challenge themselves. Children are encouraged to read within their ZPD level 60% of the time to optimise their progress.

Assessment

In Years 2 and 6, reading is assessed against the government Teaching Assessment Framework exemplifications. In every other year, reading is assessed against the reading indicator checklists derived from Pupil Asset. Three times a year, the children complete Pixl reading assessments which provides teachers with data to identify gaps in learning and to infrom future planning. Teachers meet to moderate children’s work across a year group and across the whole school. These sessions help to support teacher’s assessment judgements.

Impact of the Reading Curriculum

All pupils will be able to read with accuracy, speed, confidence, fluency and understanding and be ready to access other subjects in their secondary education. All pupils will make at least good progress from their starting points. Pupils will develop a life-long enjoyment of reading and books.