Reading
Boyton Primary's intent is that every child will learn to read, regardless of background, needs or abilities. We want our children to be fluent, confident readers. They will be exposed to a wealth of stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction to develop their vocabulary, language comprehension and develop a genuine love of reading and a keen interest in a range of texts.
We work to inspire them to become passionate life-long readers who enjoy books and have a desire to read for pleasure. In order for the children to have the will to read, and be able to read to learn, they need to have secure skills in reading so that they can read with fluency and comprehension.
Reading is at the heart of our whole curriculum underpinning every subject area. We want every child to read widely, and to gain a rich knowledge across the curriculum. By offering a wide range of texts, we aim to broaden their minds and experiences to allow them to empathise with the world in which they live and support the development of their cultural capital.
Reading is such an important life skill that it is imperative we enable them to become independent readers who can easily process information, fully engage in all learning and be well prepared for their next stage of their education.
By the end of KS1, children will be fluent at decoding, and by the age of 11, we aim for children to be able to:
• read with confidence, fluency and good understanding, drawing upon a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct;
• have an interest in a wide range of reading materials and read spontaneously for enjoyment and pleasure;
• read confidently to acquire information;
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading;
• meet age related expectations for reading, with the aspiration to exceed them.
We teach early reading through the validated systematic, synthetic phonics programme 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised' which we have just purchased and implemented.
Right from the start of Reception, children will have a daily phonics lesson which follows the progression for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds and this continues in Year One to ensure children become fluent readers.
Reading for Pleasure
Reading for Pleasure remains a whole school priority. We believe that a whole school 'Reading for Pleasure' culture must be planned for and promoted throughout the school in a variety of ways, ensuring that all children have the opportunity to develop that real love of reading. Every day the teachers read aloud the class book to the children. These texts are chosen carefully so there is a range of high quality, diverse texts to engage the children and appeal to a range of children. When reading aloud, they do not stop unnecessarily to ask clarification/comprehension questions. Instead, they allow the story to weave its own magic, only pausing occasionally where necessary to define any important vocabulary.
Boyton's reading and writing curriculum is inspired by high quality key texts and based on the Literacy Tree/ Leaf scheme. Please see below. Although the overview is carefully mapped out, it is regularly being evaluated and updated to suit the needs of each class and to include new and more diverse texts.
Children have daily opportunities for regular reading both independently, in pairs and groups. Teachers promote reading for pleasure through making recommendations and informal book talk. Careful recording of what the children’s reading diet includes happens regularly so staff are able to monitor, develop and extend this as and when appropriate. Book corners are well used, inviting spaces with a limited number of high-quality texts that children are able to borrow.
Talk through Stories
In Acorns/Birch class, the 'Talk through stories' approach is used to inspire a love of reading, deepen understanding and further extend children's vocabulary so that they can understand the books they will soon be able to read for themselves.