Reading
'Pupils learn to read exceptionally well.' Ofsted report 2023
At Weyfield Primary Academy we love reading and so do our pupils. We are passionate about instilling a love of reading within our children and we work tirelessly to ensure that reading is a subject they love.
Reading takes place continuously throughout the school day, and as well as being taught as an individual subject, you will also see it embedded across all aspects of the curriculum. Skills such as inference and deduction are taught, as well as grammatical and punctuation conventions. Vocabulary is a key part of our reading sessions as we believe broadening a child’s language helps them to understand and communicate in more developed ways.
Phonics
At the Weyfield Primary Academy we use Read Write Inc (RWI) as our way to teach EYFS and KS1 children to read. RWI is a phonics complete literacy programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. It uses a systematic and structured system every day which meets the demands of the national curriculum, and gives every child the best chance of success.
The children are taught a 40 minute session each morning which covers learning a new sound, reviewing previously taught sounds, reading the new and review sounds in real words and ‘nonsense’ words and spelling words with those sounds. The children then read a phonetically decodable book based on their ability, and work on fluency and comprehension in pairs. The lively phonic books are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words and, as children re-read the stories, their fluency increases.
Class books
At the end of every day, teachers read class books to the children. We have designed our progression of books with a broad range of authors - female, male, from other cultures including a mix of classic, older and newer writers, which in turn can inspire the children with their own reading choices.
Books home
Our younger children take home a phonetically decodable book pitched at their current level of phonics to read three times to build fluency, alongside a book to share with their adults. Our older children take home books in their reading zone. An online reading journal for each child means that they, their adults and teachers can share their thoughts on their books and their progress.
Encouraging reading
Each class has a book corner with a wide variety of books to choose from. We have a fantastic central library that children love and use on a frequent basis. We make sure we never run out of books that children can and want to read. All children will read during each school day, and read to an adult at school at least weekly.
Simple View of Reading
Simple View of Reading happens every day for 20 minutes. These sessions provide children with an opportunity to sit quietly and read a book. During these sessions, staff read with individual children or a focus group of children. Children are set reading targets and discussions take place on their reading, including their reading at home, whether they enjoy reading and whether any extra support needs to be put in place to help them succeed with their reading.
Accelerated Reader
In conjunction with our dedicated teaching, we use ‘Accelerated Reader’ to give children the opportunity to delve into new books independently while building reading speed and fluency. Accelerated Reader is a fantastic programme which allows children to read books within their ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development). By reading within their ZDP, children are able to access the texts, enjoy the storylines while still making progress.
Assessment
Star Reader - These assessments allow teachers to monitor reading progress and plan lessons according to the exact needs of the children in their class. Children take part in these assessments every half term and actually often look forward to them as they get to find out whether they have moved up a ZPD level. The ZPD level is a book range that is given to the children so that they can choose books (on myON, from the library or in their classroom) that match up to their reading ability. We believe that this is so important as it encourages a love of reading, as they read books that they can access. The best thing about the ZPD range is that it is exactly that – a range! This means that when children are given a new ZPD they are able to choose a book in the middle of their range and then as they gain confidence, we encourage them to challenge themselves and pick a book/s from the top end of their ZPD.
Subject Lead: Miss Mulcahy
Early Reading Lead: Mrs Bradbury
For further information please follow these links to find videos and resources that can help you at home:
Oxford Owl - https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk
Also, please find attached our flowchart showing how home reading is managed and documents with further information for parents on the principles behind Read write Inc.
To record reading in Years 1-6 we use the Go Read online reading record.
You can access this here - https://go-read.co.uk/
If you have not received your child’s logon pin please contact the office and leave a message.
Click here to see the Read Write Inc Introduction POSTER
YEAR R - 3 Click here to see Home reading information
YEAR 4 - 6 Click here to see Home reading information
Blending sounds together is how we read words.
Pronouncing the sounds correctly is key to supporting blending.
Sometimes we pronounce the sounds with a 'schwa' for example b becomes 'buh' and mmm becomes 'muh'.
Follow this link to see how to pronounce the sounds and support your child with their reading