Reading
At Regent Farm First School we are passionate about the importance of reading, both as a skill in its own right and as means for accessing the entire school curriculum through first, middle and into high school. We aim to support all children to achieve their potential.
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Frederick Douglas
It is our intent at Regent Farm that the teaching of English is the foundation of our curriculum and taught through an inclusive, inspiring and challenging curriculum. Through the teaching of English, children develop the essential knowledge and skills to succeed and thrive in life. The skills taught in English ensure that children can access all other areas of the curriculum with growing independence and confidence to equip them for their future.
At RFFS, our vision is for creativity to be at the helm of our English curriculum and for children to learn new skills in a fun and engaging way. Our English lessons develop pupils’ spoken language, reading, writing, spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary skills.
We help our children become successful readers who develop a lifelong love of reading through direct teaching of reading, with an emphasis on books, reading and vocabulary in all of our teaching across the curriculum. Children start their reading journey with us in Reception where a systematic phonics approach is at the heart of teaching our children to read. This continues throughout Year 1 and also beyond, for those children who might need extra practice and support.
In Key Stage 1 and 2, we explicitly teach reading during English lessons, individual reading and Guided Reading sessions, these skills are practised and reinforced across the curriculum. We use a variety of reading schemes eg. Big Cat Collins, Oxford Reading Tree and Pearsons Bug Club so that children experience a wide range of texts.
We know that reading is the key that unlocks the door of knowledge so we encourage children to read for pleasure throughout the school day whether this be reading a picture book, a novel, a newspaper or a magazine. There’s a book for everyone.
How do we teach reading?
Reading is a key aspect of a child’s learning in our school and we are committed to improving the English skills of all our pupils. Raising the profile of reading and encouraging reading for pleasure are so important in the development of these skills. Staff share a variety of classic and modern books; children’s picture books and non-fiction texts to encourage an early engagement with, and a love of, reading.
Children take part in regular reading opportunities in class through individual, group and whole class reading. Every pupil takes home ‘home reading’ books which they are encouraged to read every night. In addition, in Reception and year one, the children are given ‘tricky’ words to practice at home.
We predominately use books from Read Write Inc in the children’s one to one sessions until children are confident and secure with their phonological knowledge. These books are read at school and are also taken home for extra practice. In addition to their Read Write Inc book, the children enjoy enhancement books covering different genres, from a range of reading schemes including: Oxford Reading Tree, Collins Big Cat, Bug Club, Rigby Star, Songbirds and Project X.
When reading in school, an emphasis is placed on both word-reading and comprehension to ensure the children develop competency in reading. We recognise the distinction between learning to read and reading to learn. We understand the importance of structuring the teaching of reading appropriately through Early Years, Key Stage 1 to lower Key Stage 2. 
In order to develop fluency in word reading, phonics teaching is introduced in the Nursery and continued daily throughout Reception and Key Stage 1, using Read Write Inc. Opportunities are also given during Key Stage 1 and 2 to use additional phonic programmes if necessary, for example Nessy, Bug Club and Phonics Play, which provide further consolidation of phonics. Some pupils undertake specific intervention programmes if they experience difficulties with reading or phonological skills.
Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction. We encourage all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world they live in; to establish an appreciation and love of reading; and to gain knowledge across the curriculum. In order to help develop the children’s love of reading, they are able to choose books which interest them from our library; all children in the school have a regular library session.
During Guided Reading, you will see…
Guided Reading is taught in years 2-4 and this is done through a carousel approach. During this time, we use an engaging text which is matched to the child’s ability. Teachers work with groups and explicitly teach different comprehension skills. They will pick out particular features, vocabulary or grammar points that they will explore and discuss together. The children will then read independently to find the answers to questions set by the teacher.
These are then marked with the Teaching Assistant who can support the children and discuss any misconceptions.
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During individual reading sessions, you will see…
All children from Reception to Year 4 have an individual reading session once a week where they are taught to read.
A Teacher/Teaching Assistant will hear each child read a book matched to their ability/phonics phase which enables them to develop fluency, their comprehension skills and their ability to read common exception words. Staff will write notes on the child’s individual record sheet on how a child has read. Teachers may ask staff hearing readers to concentrate on skills such as reading with expression, taking notice of punctuation and also may work on inference, deduction and prediction skills if these things are hindering progress for children. All children have a reading diary which is completed each week by a member of staff. The children take these books home and are encouraged to read frequently with an adult who will also complete their reading diary.
In Reception, the children practise reading the set 1 sounds previously taught and the staff encourage the children to discuss the story orally from the pictures in the book. They practise reading the red words on flash cards and the Teacher/Teaching Assistant encourages the children to blend the sounds to read words.
In Reception and Year 1 we invite parents to phonics/reading workshops and training sessions, which support the parents in listening to their child read and encouraging their child’s development of phonics. Home-school readers are also phonics based; ensuring continuity and these are at the level of each individual child. Reading books are changed on a weekly basis.
During our reading for pleasure, you will see…
Children in KS1 and KS2 will read for pleasure every day for 15-20 minutes after lunch which encourages good practise and helps our children gain stamina for reading. The children will read their chosen book of interest which is matched to their ability.
In EYFS the children have a book a week which includes both fiction and non-fiction texts. This book is shared with the class every day and the children can also listen to this again at home as staff share this weekly on tapestry. In addition to this the children also enjoy hear a different book each day which is read purely for pleasure. In Nursery the children read 4 books and at the end of the week the children vote on their favourite book. The most popular text is then read again with the children. By the end of the week in Reception the children have heard 5 books and they then vote on their favourite book that week.
In every class, children will be read to daily. Teachers will read books which have been specially chosen in order to ensure that our children are exposed to texts which are challenging, stimulating and exciting for the children to share.
“The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is… to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books and letting them read them.” Neil Gaiman.
Around our school to celebrate reading, you will see…
Throughout the year the importance of reading is enhanced through World Book Day, author visits and a range of trips/educational visits which enrich and complement children’s learning. There are displays around the school and in classrooms which promote a love of reading. Our author of the month display, exposes children to a variety of authors. Children become familiar with an author’s work and are able to identify books by that author. When they become interested in a book they are eager to read more books by the same author. The children enjoy hearing these stories during the school day and are excited when they see these books in our school library and can take them home to share with their families.
In EYFS the staff send a video home each week of them reading the ‘book of the week’ via tapestry. This allows children to increase their familiarity of a variety of books and develop a passion and love for stories at home. The books of the week are displayed in the corridor in EYFS and this allows the children to visually see the journey of books read throughout the year.
We work closely with our local library to promote a love for reading beyond the classroom walls. Throughout the year the children visit with their classes, for a story with the librarian and to immerse themselves in the books… We encourage the children to take part in the summer reading challenge and share the children’s achievements in whole school assemblies.
Our “Read around the world challenge” is designed to promote reading and celebrate a child’s achievements. At Regent Farm we ask all the children to read to an adult at least 3 times a week and each week they’ll receive an aeroplane stamp if they’ve read 3 times at home. When the children have collected 6 aeroplane stamps in their reading diaries they can move themselves from Europe to the next continent on the map which is displayed in their classroom. The children will also receive a certificate during our awards assembly. Each time the child gains 6 stamps they will move to the next continent, until they have travelled all around the world. Those children who manage to read around the world will be rewarded with a book token at the end of the academic year.
Our “bedtime story boxes” are designed to bring back bedtime stories and encourage children to snuggle up and share a book with an adult. Bedtime stories are more than just reading they are precious, magical moments which families can treasure forever. It’s a time to talk, laugh, play and imagine. It’s a time to discuss the day, share silly stories with the help of silly voices and explore other worlds in the pages of books. Each child will receive a bedtime story box to borrow so no child misses out on a bedtime story.
What is the impact of our reading curriculum?
Regular and ongoing formative assessment informs planning and teaching. Adult support in class and targeted interventions, support and enable the success of each child. The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferrable skills.
As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular reading standards have also improved and skills taught in the English lesson are transferred into other subjects; this shows consolidation of skills and a deeper understanding of the reading objectives. We hope that as children move on from us to further their education and learning that their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop as they do.