Reading
Please see below to see how we teach reading at our school.
Phonics
Reading Leader: L. Redfearn
Contact: lauren.redfearn@st-albans.doncaster.sch.uk
We use the Read Write Inc. program in school as a whole school approach for EYFS and Key Stage 1. Read Write Inc. provides a systematic approach to literacy, covering the teaching of reading, writing, spelling and comprehension.
Read Write Inc. Phonics is underpinned by the ‘Simple View of Reading.’ It teaches children how to understand written language and how to decode it.
A key element of the Read Write Inc. approach is that practice across the school is completely consistent. This is achieved because the headteacher, all the teachers and teaching assistants, from the Foundation Stage to Year 6, are trained to teach reading. This means that everyone has a shared understanding of the ‘Simple View of Reading’, how letters and sounds in English are related (the alphabetic code), and how to teach all children to read and write.
All the children are grouped, across the school, in terms of their reading ability. This means that they are reading at their own level, every day. The more homogeneous the group, the more focused the teaching can be in terms of children’s progress. Children who are progressing faster or more slowly than their peers move quickly to another group. Children who continue to struggle have one-to-one tutoring (starting from the Foundation Stage 2 year), so that they catch up again as soon as possible. Children who have special educational needs are supported, for however long it takes, until they can read.
The alphabetic code is taught first and firmly embedded. The children rapidly learn sounds and the letter or groups of letters they need to represent those sounds. Simple and enjoyable mnemonics help all children to grasp this quickly, especially those who are at risk of making slower progress or those who are new to learning English. This learning is taught and consolidated every day. High-frequency words that are not phonically regular are taught as ‘tricky’ words and practised frequently. Well-written, lively phonic books are closely matched to children’s increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words, so that, early on, they experience plenty of success. Repeated readings of the texts support their increasingly fluent decoding. Discussion of each story helps children both to understand what they are reading and to build up their knowledge of how texts work.
Why it works…
Read Write Inc. combines 5 clear steps to ensure real success in literacy:
A systematic and dynamic whole-school approach
High quality literacy teaching
Inspiring whole-school literacy training
Effective assessment and grouping
Keeps parents fully supportive
For more information please click on the following link:
http://www.oup.com/oxed/primary/rwi/forparents/
The parent support Website, Oxford Owl, can be accessed by clicking on the next link:
Phonics Screening
Please see below the information shared in the phonics meetings plus any helpful links to support your child for the statutory Phonics Screening.
Helpful Websites
Phonics - KS1 English - BBC Bitesize
If your child has a Lexia account with school - please set your device up on Lexia Core5 Reading - Login and Student Program
KS2 Reading
At St. Alban’s Catholic Primary School we endeavor to ensure children are equipped with the skills to enable them to read with confidence, fluency and understanding. Our ultimate aim is to provide children with the competence and strategies required for them to become fully literate adults who can achieve a lifetime of enjoyment through reading.
Children are taught to read using a range of appropriate strategies and skills that take into account individual learning needs, levels of development and interests. Reading is given a high profile throughout school from Foundation Stage to Year 6.
We seek to provide a range of different and stimulating opportunities to encourage and engage children in reading, including
Home – school partnerships
One-to one reading with an adult
Shared Reading
Guided Reading
Independent Reading
Learning within a literacy-rich environments
Cross-curricular opportunities to read, including through ICT and computing
Reading in the wider environment
In Foundation Stage, children are introduced to phonics using the Read Write Inc. (RWI) programme. The children progress through this scheme throughout Key Stage 1. Children are grouped through regular assessment to ensure the direct teaching matches individual learning needs.
If assessments identify any gaps in learning catch up programmes are implemented in key stage 2, and may include pockets of intensive support and focused home school partnerships. The Fresh Start programme is used to support and, where appropriate consolidate learning in Key Stage 2 – especially in Years 5 and 6 as well as 1:1 or small group tutoring by our Key Stage 2 RWI practitioner.
As children master the technical aspects of phonics and are equipped with necessary reading skills to attempt to read unknown words, greater emphasis is given to comprehension skills. From Year 2 onwards, children’s comprehension of what they are reading, and the key skills of retrieval, inference and deduction are taught more discretely using our 'You Are A Reading Detective' scheme.
Read Write Inc. and Reading Detective's compliment the school’s core reading scheme for KS2, Oxford Reading Tree. The structured reading materials and scheme is supplemented by a range of real books which broaden the reading menu on offer. The range of books and genre available ensures there is something for everyone. Titles are chosen not simply to consolidate learning, but to broaden our children’s reading experience. We encourage children across school to read books both within school and at home and to take notice of the written word around them.
Ultimately we aim to create a rich literary environment where children are both encouraged and allowed to develop as confident readers, able to form their own opinions and make their own reading preference choices. We have a large newly refurbished library stocked with a range of fiction and non-fiction books that children can take home to read for pleasure. Children from every class have access to dedicated reading areas where they can read independently in a comfortable and enriching environment.