Intent

At Eythorne and Elvington we believe that reading is an essential life skill and we are committed to and passionate about enabling our children to become lifelong readers.

At the heart of our strategy is our drive to foster a love of reading, enriching children’s learning through carefully designed teaching activities that utilise imaginative stories and thought provoking texts.

Reading is a skill that enables children to develop their learning across the wider curriculum and lays the foundations for success in future aspirations. We recognise the importance of taking a consistent whole school approach to the teaching of reading in order to close any gaps and to target the highest possible number of children attaining the expected standard or higher.

We have high expectations of all children and we encourage children to be ambitious and confident in their reading.

Implementation

Through the consistent teaching of phonics following Little Wandles Letters and Sounds Revised, children are taught the essential skills and knowledge needed for reading and for writing.  Phonics is taught daily to all children in Reception and Key Stage 1, and where required through interventions in Key Stage 2.

From year two onwards, children engage in 3 Whole Class Reading sessions per week and at least one “reading for pleasure” session.  In whole class reading we use the VIPERS approach to teach specific skills: Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval and Sequencing / Summarising through rich and varied text types.

These lessons are taught in practical and imaginative ways to further excite children about reading and develop their confidence in these skills.

In EYFS, Y1 and where necessary in Y2, Children have phonically decodable reading books matched to their phonics knowledge which they are encouraged to read regularly at home to ensure fluency in reading is developed. Books are chosen from our reading schemes – Big Fat Collins books whihc match our phonics scheme.

Further through the school, once they are fluent decoders, children are assessed and challenged through the Accelerated Reader programme, where they are tested termly and receive regular feedback on their progress in reading.  The programme is also used as an incentive to encourage them to develop a lifelong love of reading, enabling children to celebrate success and have ambition for their reading ability.

In KS2 children who are showing gaps in their reading ability or are not reaching expected levels are given targeted intervention, as well as increased reading opportunities throughout the school week to enable them to achieve the required standard.

Reading is taught across the curriculum as a life skill to enable children regular practise in reading for meaning and context.

Impact

Through our consistent approach to the teaching of phonics and dedicated staff, where children are encouraged to always persevere, children make good progress from their starting points.  Most of our pupils are ready for the next stage in their education as they move from Reception, Key Stage 1 and into Key stage 2.  Children’s developing confidence in their reading skills allows them to be ambitious for themselves and strive to achieve success in both their reading and writing as they work through the phases.  Key Stage 2 pupils promote a love of reading and show empathy to our younger children by enjoying books and stories together during playtimes.

We believe that reading is the key to all learning and are dedicated to ensuring all pupils succeed in becoming confident readers.