Reading at Old Sarum Primary
Reading.
Intent – Vision
We aim to inspire pupils to become lifelong readers with a love of reading.
We want to help them develop their own reading preferences and read widely across a variety of genres to include a variety of authors, whilst encouraging them to be fluent and confident readers.
At Old Sarum, we teach all children to read and spell so they can become fluent readers building on their knowledge of phonemes and their corresponding spelling. We want to equip all our pupils with a secure phonic knowledge that enables them to read and write successfully. We support children to develop decoding, fluency and comprehension skills with access to a wide range of authors and genres, these with increasing challenge as they progress through the school. These skills are modelled by a teacher and applied by children through the delivery of daily reading lessons.
The Twinkl Phonics Programme we use intends to, not only provide children with opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding essential for reading and writing, but also to develop each child’s confidence, resilience and engagement in phonics lessons and a love for reading and writing.
Implementation – How we teach
At Old Sarum Primary we use Twinkl Phonics to deliver high quality synthetic phonics and throughout KS1 children progress through 6 different levels.
Throughout Level 1, young learners develop the knowledge, skills and understanding to discriminate between and use auditory, environmental and instrumental sounds. Level 1 is taught in the EYFS and runs throughout the teaching of phonics Levels 2-6. In reception, children work within Levels 2-4. In Levels 2-4, learners are introduced to phonemes/sounds and graphemes/letters systematically. They also learn to develop and apply blending and segmenting skills for reading and writing.
In KS1, children work within Levels 5 and 6. The coherently planned sequence of lessons within Level 5 allows opportunities for children to apply their phonics knowledge and skills as the prime approach to reading and spelling. It focuses on phonetically decodable two-syllable and three-syllable words and the alternative ways of pronouncing and representing the long vowel phonemes.
Furthermore, children will develop their ability to attempt to read and spell increasingly complex words. During Level 6, children explore spelling patterns and grammar while also developing a
breadth of knowledge, skills and understanding in the recognition and spelling of common exception words.
In KS1 phonics is taught daily with opportunities throughout the day to recap and revisit new learning. The lesson presentations, stories, games, additional texts and toolkits are meticulously planned to allow children to apply and practise phonics skills. They also offer opportunities to challenge learners
Guided Reading
Reading is taught daily using a whole class approach so all children experience a range of texts incorporating fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We use Fred’sTeaching to ensure consistency and that all texts are suitably high quality.
Teachers model reading aloud to develop understanding and prosody; this is also modelled during the class daily ‘Big Read’.
Children have regular weekly opportunities to read aloud to develop fluency and flair and connect with the text.
Impact – what this means for children.
That children will:
- Have decoding skills that are secure and hence vocabulary is developing;
- Be independent, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read widely and frequently;
- Develop their understanding and enjoyment of stories, poetry, plays and non-fiction, and learning to read silently;
- Develop their knowledge and skills in reading non-fiction about a wide range of subjects;
- Take place in discussions about a text and to be able to justify their views independently about what they have read;
- Make comparisons across different genres and begin to identify the author’s intentions when using specific words or phrases.
- To perform texts/poems with confidence and with an awareness of audience.
- Read sufficiently fluently and effortlessly, with understanding at an age appropriate interest level in readiness for secondary school
In addition we expect our children to:
- Have a love of reading that feeds the imagination
- Read widely across both fiction and non-fiction, developing knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live
- Have developed their own preferences for reading, using this to recommend books to others, giving reasons for their choices.
- Have a developed vocabulary beyond that used in everyday speech
- Understand nuances in vocabulary choice
- Understand age-appropriate, academic vocabulary
The impact is constantly monitored through teachers’ use of formative assessment daily to make adaptations and adjustments to planning to meet the needs of all learners.
On a termly basis, children complete NFER assessments which inform teachers’ planning. Pupil progress is carefully monitored and analysed on a termly basis to ensure our aims are fulfilled. Pupil voice is also used as an assessment tool to ensure we create a lifelong love of reading and improve outcomes for children at the end of KS1 and KS2.