Reading
At Crossley Hall, we recognise that reading is key to learning and it is promoted across the whole of the curriculum. Daily whole-class story time ensures that teachers and pupils share books for their enjoyment – these books are often targeted just above what the children can access independently ensuring they are exposed to high level vocabulary and in-depth discussions. Children are encouraged to choose books from the school library and class book corners which are within their ‘ZPD’ – books within each child’s range that they can confidently access independently.
We enjoy celebrating reading in many different ways, including participating in activities for World Book Day, reading competitions and author visits. We work hard to engender a life-long love of reading and want all of our children to feel the joy of being lost in a good book.
We begin our reading journey in Nursery, by developing listening skills and being able to identify and recognise different sounds. Moving into Reception, we teach the sounds the letters make and learning how to segment and blend the sounds into words. This is where our emphasis on fluency really begins – we focus on Set 1 and 2 of Read Write Inc. through daily phonics lessons and activities in provision.
We play lots of phonics games in school – Phonics Play has a great selection of free games which are suitable for Early Years and Key Stage 1 learners.
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources
In Year 1 we build on the work started in the EYFS and use the core principals of Read Write Inc to support the teaching of phonics through the next set of phonemes, continuing to focus on blending and fluency. Daily whole class phonics is taught as well as daily sessions tailored to our children’s needs.
In Year 2, we continue to deliver daily phonics sessions tailored to our children’s needs. We complete the Read Write Inc programme by Christmas, and begin to build a stronger focus on the application of spelling rules to writing. Year 2 then begin their journey into daily whole class reading lessons, as seen in key stage 2.
Key Stage 2
Rich and meaningful discussion is at the heart of our novel study sessions. The aim of this strategy is for all children to achieve their full potential academically and to develop a life-long love of reading. This means developing their independence as well as working collaboratively.
When children join key stage 2, they are fluent confident readers. With the foundations in place, our focus turns to the teaching of the Key Stage Two Content Domains as shown below:
| 2a | Give / explain the meaning of words in context |
| 2b | Retrieve and record information / identify key details from fiction and non-fiction |
| 2c | Summarise main ideas from more than one paragraph |
| 2d | Make inferences from the text / explain and justify inferences with evidence from the text |
| 2e | Predict what might happen from details stated and implied |
| 2f | Identify / explain how information / narrative content is related and contributes to meaning as a whole |
| 2g | Identify / explain how meaning is enhanced through choice of words and phrases |
| 2h | Make comparisons within the text |
As the key stage 2 SATs approach, we fully appreciate the importance of ensuring the children are ready for the demands of the test, whilst still developing their love of reading and their core comprehension skills. Pupils within this year group receive whole class ‘test technique’ sessions in preparation for SATs and daily Reading for Pleasure alongside regular opportunities to practice vocabulary, comprehension and inference skills in the wider curriculum.
Reception and Year 1 have access to Oxford Owl, an online reading and comprehension resource which follows the Read Write Inc scheme and can be accessed via desk top computer, laptop, tablet or a smart phones. If you need a reminder of your class login, please let your class teacher know. There are lots of books you can access for free with this login!
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
Years 2 to 6 have access to MyOn, a personalised literacy platform that offers every pupil unlimited access to an enhanced digital library and includes a core collection of more than 6,000 non-fiction and fiction titles. There are online quizzes to match the books which measure comprehension – have a go at a sample quiz here:
https://www.renlearn.co.uk/accelerated-reader/sample-quizzes/
https://www.myon.co.uk/index.html