Reading
Intent
At Rufford Park we aim to instil a lifelong love of reading. We believe that reading is fundamental to your child’s learning and the key to knowledge. We put reading at the heart of our curriculum.
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” — Frederick Douglass
Our principle aims from the National Curriculum for England are to ensure that all pupils:
- Read easily, fluently and with good understanding
- Develop the habit of reading widely and often, both for pleasure and to gather information
- Acquire a wide and rich vocabulary
- Appreciate our varied literary heritage
We know that future success is linked directly to a broad vocabulary, a love of reading and the ability to communicate effectively. Reading enables children to develop a richer vocabulary and an understanding of their world.
At Rufford Park we believe all children should have the opportunity to be confident, fluent readers who can comprehend a range of age-appropriate texts. We want pupils to develop a love of reading, a good knowledge of a range of authors, and a greater understanding of the world in which they live, through the knowledge they gain from texts. By the end of their time at Rufford Park, it is our intention that all children should be able to read fluently and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education. We understand the importance of parents and carers in supporting their children to develop both word reading and comprehension skills and ensure that parents are aware if their children need to access additional support.
Implementation
The core of our reading curriculum is the National Curriculum for England which is supported by our Reading scheme. This consists of the fully decodable schemes Big Cat Collins and Floppy’s phonics in Foundation stage and KS1. In KS2 we have selected from a range of schemes to provide interest and breadth.
A variety of approaches are used to deliver reading across the school. We follow Letters and Sounds with the Jolly phonics actions to ensure that children are able to learn the phonics code required for them to become confident early readers. We use ‘content domain dogs’ in all classes Y1 to Y6 to teach reading skills. Pupils are explicitly taught each skill through a range of high-quality texts and genres. These help children have a clear understanding of the terminology and provide teachers with a specific focus in reading lessons. Our progression of skills document provides support and clear end points for each year group.
All pupils are exposed daily to a variety of quality texts both fiction and non-fiction from a well-stocked library. Pupils develop a love of reading, a good knowledge of a range of authors and understand more about the world in which they live. Reading is prioritised across our curriculum allowing pupils to read and understand in all subjects. Pupils develop resilience by reading and re-reading to develop their understanding of challenging vocabulary. Daily story time takes place in every class with an adult modelling fluency and intonation. During this time children’s favourite books, authors and recommended reads are shared.
At all stages reading attainment is assessed to ensure that gaps are addressed quickly and effectively. Early readers are taught by skilled staff through our phonics programme ensuring their reading books match their current phonetic understanding. Daily guided reading takes place in Y1-Y6 to ensure that all pupils can become fluent, confident readers. We focus on ensuring pupils gain fluency and phonics knowledge alongside language comprehension as modelled by the Scarborough Reading Rope (2001). Formative assessment takes place daily while summative takes place in the form of NFER testing which allows gaps to be addressed. Pupils who require additional support with decoding or comprehension are targeted for specific interventions.
Impact
The children at Rufford Park Primary School make above average progress in reading during their time at school from EYFS – KS2 (3-year average 2017-19 progress data). The pupils therefore leave Rufford Park with the knowledge and skills such that they are able to succeed at the next stage of their education. They make good progress because they are both read to and read themselves widely and often. They build up phonics skills incrementally to decode and blend words. They have preferences and opinions about a range of authors, genres, and texts. Pupils can read across the curriculum and develop their knowledge in all subjects. Gaps in attainment are identified and interventions are put in place. Parents and carers are kept informed about progress and ways to support their child. Ultimately, we want to develop enthusiastic readers as we firmly believe reading is the key to all learning.
How reading is taught in school
How to support your child's reading at home
Recommended reads for...
Year 6 Book Club
We have a Year 6 book club who meet once a week with Miss Bairstow. Click here to find out more about it!