Reading at Wroot Travis Charity C of E School
We use the DFE Reading Guidance to ensure we are meeting the expecations in all aspects of Reading across the school. This can be found here: The reading framework: teaching the foundations of literacy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
A love of reading makes a big difference in children’s achievement both now and into the future. At our school we work to encourage a love of reading in all children. Encouraging children to practise essential reading skills, including phonics, daily is important in developing their fluency, pace and resilience as well as increasing their understanding of language and enriching their vocabulary.
We aim to cultivate this love of reading through providing positive reading experiences such as celebrating World Book or author days, sharing reading across the school, opportunities to meet authors, reading competitions as well as providing quality texts to stimulate and enguage readers of all ages.
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How is Phonics taught at our school?
PHONICS
In the Early Years and Key Stage One, children are taught synthetic phonics through 25 minute, daily sessions in groups which are streamed according to the phase in which they are working in. At Wroot Travis we use the Bug Club programme which gives children a firm, fun foundation in phonics with a complete phonics programme that's proven to raise reading standards. We apply and consolidate the sounds learnt in phonics through reading in class using Phonics Bug books and e-books which are fully decodable as well as banded guided reading books which promote a school culture of reading for pleasure.
How we teach Phonics:
In the Nursery, children follow the Phonics Bug DFE Validated Scheme. The focus is on daily oral blending through high quality stories and rhymes.
In Reception and Y1 children follow the progression within the Phonics Bug Programme. Phonics is taught daily and there is a language session on a Friday.
Phonics starts in Reception immediately so that the children make a strong start.
By the end of Reception the children will have been taught up to the end of Phase 4.
By the end of Year 1, children will have been taught up to the end of Phase 5.
All sessions are 25 minutes long.
In Y2 Daily No Nonsense Spelling sessions, which embrace knowledge of spelling conventions - patterns and rules, are taught daily to all children.
In KS2 there are planned phonic catch up sessions following the Phonics Bug model to address specific reading / writing gaps. These short, sharp sessions last for 10 minutes and take place at least 3 times per week.
Children in KS 2 continue to have individual reading books aimed at their reading level and interests. Whole class texts are use to promote reading skills and further develop fluency and reading comprehension.
Click here for a helpful link to show how pure sounds are made.
How do we assess Phonic Knowledge?
In R and Y1 there is a language session which recaps learning at the end of each week. There are also regualr assessments to identify any gaps in learning that need revisiting.
Children identified in R and Y1 as in danger of falling behind are immediately identified and phonics booster or interevention sessions are put into place.
The children in Y1 sit the Phonics Screening Check in the Summer Term.
Children who do not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Y1 will re-sit this in Y2.
Children who are in Y2 - Y6 and need catch up sessions / boosters / interventions are assessed through teacher's formative and summative assessments.
Phonics Screening Check - Y1
Each year, all children in Y1, in all schools, must take the Phonics Screening Check. Some children in Y2 are also required to take the check either because they did not take it in Y1 or because their Y1 score did not meet the required standard.
The check happens in June each year.
The child will do their screening check with their teacher.
We send out a letter explaining the check and confirming when it will happen. Examples of the kinds of words your child will need to read and how you can support your child at home before the screening takes place can be obtained from your child'd teacher. More information can be found on the Oxford Owl Website:
www.oxfordowl.co.uk
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How do we teach Reading at our school?
Children are initially taught reading skills through a daily programme of phonics, work to memorise key words and reading a range of high quality books to develop an interest in stories and non-fiction texts. The school uses a colour coded reading scheme which includes books from Bug Club. In addition to this all children have regular access to the school’s well stocked library.
Children from Year 1 to Year 6 take part in whole class reading sessions 3 times a week where they are taught comprehension skills through the VIPERS approach. A range of texts are used including fiction, non fiction, poetry and the class novel. The table below outlines the VIPERS approach:
Vocabulary - Find and explain the meaning of words in context.
Infer - Make and justify interpretations about characters and events using evidence from the text.
Predict - Predict what might happen from the details given and implied in the text.
Explain - Explain preferences, thoughts and opinions about a text.
Retrieve - Retrieve and record key information from fiction and non fiction.
Sequence or Summarise - Main ideas from the text.
Using the printed books
Inside every Bug Club Phonics printed book, there are notes to help you make the most of reading with your child.
Inside front cover: there are suggestions of activities before your child starts reading, such as saying the sounds and practising blending them to make words, as well as strategies whilst your child is reading to you; for example, checking their understanding of the story or information on the page.
Inside back cover: the activities here are to help your child consolidate what they have read and increase their fluency.
Using the online reading world
If you have access to an internet connection, your child can enjoy reading Bug Club Phonics books online as well as in print. Each child has a unique homepage and can log into it by following these steps:
- Go to www.activelearnprimary.co.uk
- Enter the login details.
- Your child’s homepage will appear.
Reading a book online
We allocate books to your child according to their reading levels. These books will appear in the ‘My Stuff’ area of their personal homepage.
The eBooks have three main additional features to help your child. Find them in the ‘Independent’ section of ‘My Stuff’.
- Phoneme pronunciation guide: click on the bug icon to hear some of the phonemes (sounds) in the book.
- Read to me: after your child has had a go at reading the book, you can click on this to hear the text read out loud e.g. to help your child with giving expression.
- Quiz question: click on the second bug icon within the book to answer a question designed to reinforce your child’s learning. Their teacher will receive information about attempted questions.
When your child has finished the book, clicked on the phoneme pronunciation guide and attempted the quiz question, they will earn ‘ActiveLearn Coins’. By reading more books, your child will earn enough coins to ‘buy’ a reward in one of the many reward schemes.
When your child has finished a book, it will move to ‘My Library’. Children can read these books again if they want to, or they can choose new books from ‘My Stuff’.
As well as good decoding skills, good readers need to be able to ask questions to check their own understanding. From Year 1 onwards, children are taught individually, in small groups (guided reading) and as a class to develop these comprehensions skills.
From Year 1 up to Year 6 the children take part in a variety of reading activities including guided reading, individual reading and sharing class novels. Throughout the year a variety of reading challenges are set using both paper and digital books eg Read for my School, Summer challenge through North Lincolnshire Libraries
Guided Reading
Reading is not just about decoding words on a page to read aloud but also understanding what they are reading. Children need to learn how to retrieve information, deduce and infer things about a text they are reading. They need to learn to use intonation in their voice, read the punctuation and understand it’s use and also make decisions about books/texts using what they know about it. In guided reading sessions we teach the children how to ask questions about a book, think about the author's views and encourage the children to be able to create their own views based on information from the text. Children are also encouraged to look at the meaning of words in context and the way in which authors engage the reader. These daily sessions give teachers the opportunity to work closely with the children developing these core reading skills.
- How can I help my child at home?
Sharing reading
When sharing a book with your child, try to take opportunities to talk about the book - before, during and after reading.
Before reading: look at the book cover and talk about your child’s expectations. Is the book likely to be fiction or non-fiction? Have you read other books together about these characters or by this author? What does your child think the book is going to be about?
While reading: support your child when unknown words need tackling: you can sound them out, split them into syllables, or identify suffixes and prefixes. Remind your child to listen to the words while reading them, to make sure that they make sense. Have a ‘meaning check’ every now and again to ensure that your child understands the text.
After reading: talk about the book. What was it about? Did it match your child’s expectations? Ask questions beginning with the words how and why to check that your child has been able to read between the lines. Ask whether anything seemed puzzling. Then ask your child to explain what the best and worst bits of the book were, and why.
Need help?
If your child is having trouble using the pupil world, help can be found in the Help Section of ActiveLearn Primary (in the top right-hand corner of the website).
Please note: We strongly recommend using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox web browsers with ActiveLearn. If you prefer to use Internet Explorer, please check you have at least IE9 in order for everything to work as it should.
If you would like to find out more about Reading and Phonics in school, or have any questions, please contact our English Lead, Mrs Judge, who will be happy to speak with you.