Reading

Reading is taught across the curriculum, in discrete lessons  and as part of other subjects: it is a golden thread that runs through our curriculum.

Early Reading

The use and application of phonic knowledge is instrumental in developing children’s reading and writing skills.  

The daily short, sharp teaching of mixed-ability phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing by developing learners' phonemic awareness—the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes—in order to teach the correspondence between these sounds and the spelling patterns (graphemes) that represent them.

Pupils enjoy high quality, multi-sensory phonic sessions daily and a wide range of reading interventions are also run through the school year (e.g. ‘15 Minutes a Day’). We currently use Little Wandle, which links to our previous use of Letters and Sounds, but we are planning to invest further in phonics for September 2022.   

The Phonics Screening Check

The phonics screening check in Year 1 is a national standardised decoding test and only words that are phonically decodable have been included. It also requires that pupils can:

• apply phonic knowledge and skill as the prime approach to reading unfamiliar words that are not completely decodable;
• read many frequently-encountered words automatically;
• read phonically decodable three-syllable words;
• read a range of age-appropriate texts fluently;
• demonstrate understanding of age-appropriate texts.

It is expected that teachers will ensure that elements of early reading not assessed in this phonics screening check are also taught, such as reading and discussing books. Children who have not reached this level re-take the phonics screening check the following year. 

The Reading Curriculum

The Greenways reading curriculum offers carefully planned shared, guided and independent reading. Our aim is to ensure that reading is the golden thread that runs through the curriculum.  Reading is taught as a discrete lesson across all year groups and weaves its way into all subjects across the school.

We are currently in the process of implementing a programme called ‘Accelerated Reader’ across the school.  This programme puts the children in the driving seat and through assessments, ensures that books are matched to their current reading level that are both challenging and engaging.  Teachers are able to monitor the children’s progress and adapt their teaching accordingly.  More information will follow on this.

Children are encouraged to take books home from our school library and ideally read 5 times a week at home.