Reading

Broad Oak Primary School is determined that every pupil will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities.

To achieve this we ensure that:

• All children develop a love of reading and engage with reading regularly in school and outside the classroom.
• All children will be able to read fluently and confidently by the time they leave Broad Oak Primary School.
• Children are exposed to high quality texts throughout their time at Broad Oak. Stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction are chosen to develop pupils’ vocabulary, language comprehension and love of reading.
• Children and staff at Broad Oak are kept up to date with the latest developments in children’s reading
• Any children that are not working at an age related level, receive additional support.
• Children are given opportunities to apply their reading skills across the curriculum.
• Children are read to regularly by an adult. This includes a combination of authors, teachers and parents/carers.
• The quality of teaching and learning is at least good in each class.

Phonics 

At Broad Oak, the teaching of phonics is embedded within English teaching in each class where appropriate. In Nursery, Reception and Year 1, phonics is taught as daily, stand-alone lessons for a minimum of 20 minutes. These lessons are delivered to differentiated groups (aligned with their phonics phase) by teachers and teaching assistants. Phonics is systematically planned using the lesson structure and teaching order of Letters and Sounds and is delivered using the THRASS teaching tool . In Year 2, pupils are taught phase 5 alternative sounds once a week until the end of Autumn 2. Pupils who do not pass the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check receive additional support through planned interventions.

Phonics is assessed each half term and pupils are regrouped according to the phase that they are working on.

Reading 

We follow the National Curriculum. English is both a subject in its own right, but is also essential across the curriculum to empower learners effectively to gain fluency in the English Language. Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects. We know that spoken language, reading and writing are intricately linked and take every opportunity to make this known to our children.   Our curriculum will develop pupils’ reading in all subjects to support their problem solving efficiently. Children will be taught to read fluently, understand a variety of texts and to read for pleasure. Our curriculum will do everything to promote wider reading, including setting ambitious expectations for reading at home. The majority of teaching reading is through guided reading sessions. Reading consists of a range of complex dimensions:

Phonemic awareness- Phonemes are the smallest units making up spoken language. Phonemes combine to form syllables and words. Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to identify and manipulate these phonemes in spoken words. It is also the understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words.

Using phonics- Phonics is the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes (the sounds of spoken language) and graphemes (the letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language). Readers use these relationships to recognize familiar words and to decode unfamiliar ones.

Vocabulary development- refers to the knowledge of stored information about the meanings and pronunciations of words and phrases necessary for communication. Vocabulary development enables pupils to determine if a word/phrase makes sense based on their understanding of the context.

Reading fluency- Fluency is the ability to read words accurately and quickly. Fluent readers recognize words and comprehend them simultaneously. Reading fluency and phrasing is a critical factor necessary for reading comprehension. If children read out loud with speed, accuracy, and proper expression, they are more likely to comprehend effectively on the run.

Comprehension (both listening and reading) allows pupils to summarise, infer, deduct and retrieve effectively. Comprehension is an active process that requires an intentional and thoughtful interaction between the reader and the text.

Pupils who require extra support with their reading may be enrolled on our Fischer Family Trust Wave 3 reading intervention. These children will receive five additional 1:1 reading sessions a week lasting 30 minutes.

We are also currently working with Coram Beanstalk. Coram Beanstalk recruit, train and support volunteers to provide consistent, one-to-one reading support to children. Their reading helpers give them the support they need to improve their reading skills, reading ability and confidence.

Every effort will be made to hear pupils read individually either by their class teacher, teaching assistant or trained parent helper, at least once per week in EYFS and KS1.

The reading books in school provide a cumulative progression in phonics knowledge that is matched closely to the school’s phonics programme.