Reading

Intent: Reading is of key importance and is at the heart of our curriculum: we want every child at Newton Primary School to love books. ‘Book talk’ is at the centre of our reading sessions, where we encourage the children to engage in discussions and debates, as well as ask to questions about what they have read. Each classroom has an inviting reading area and our library is at the heart of the school. The children are welcome to browse here to find a book to enjoy. 

Implementation:  Our children learn to decode through the systematic sythentic phonics programme, Read Write Inc (please visit our Phonics page for more details about this). Children in Reception and KS1 take home a decoable book, as well as a 'reading for pleasure' book to enjoy with their family. To enhance dialogic comprehension in school, reading is taught in whole class sessions, based on Pie Corbett’s 'Talk for Reading' approach. This follows a cycle of three phases, which allows the children to be really immersed in the books we read together - Introduction, Investigation and Independent Understanding.  Eight key reading skills are taught across school - five in KS1 and a further three in KS2.  These are woven into our reading sessions, providing the children with opportunities to apply them to a range of question types, thus deepening their  understanding when answering comprehension questions. Sentence stems are used during reading sessions to provide children with the opportunities to both ‘read as a writer’ and ‘read as a reader’. The texts used within these reading sessions are of high quality and designed to be ‘unpicked’during the reading sessions, with a focus on high level vocabulary. Some of this work is documented in reading jotters whereas some lessons are purely verbal or practical and require no written outcome. These books are acknowledged, though not marked in depth by the teacher; they provide opportunities for concise reading skills practice for the children and for assessment opportunities. Regular cross-curricular opportunities for comprehension and similar application of skills are provided. Each class also has a whole class reading book which is read to them by the teacher at the end of each day. This book is intended purely as an opportunity for the children to listen to and enjoy a story.

Impact: The children are assessed during each reading session through their verbal contributions. The jotters that the children use also provide regular assessment opportunities for the teachers. In addition to this, teacher assessment is validated through termly summative assessments, using PIRA reading papers from Year 1 – 6. In Key Stage 2, the children also take part in a scheme called Accelerated Reader where they are assessed regularly and given an appropriate reading band to allow enjoyment and suitable challenge.