PHONICS & READING
Reading
It is our intent at Coppull Parish Primary School to provide pupils with a high-quality education in English, that follows the National Curriculum, and teaches pupils to speak, read and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others effectively.
With regards to reading, phonics will be emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners when they start school. We promote a love of reading, and our whole school curriculum is based around high-quality texts. We encourage all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, to gain knowledge across the curriculum and develop their comprehension skills. It is our intention to ensure that by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to read fluently and with confidence in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education and in further life.
Early Years and Key Stage 1
From Foundation Stage to KS1 the children have daily phonics sessions. We use a Systematic Synthetic Phonics approach and follow the Little Wandle scheme which enables children to use their phonic knowledge to read and spell using blending and segmenting as a primary approach.
The principles of Little Wandle are based upon:
the delivery of whole class high-quality first teaching with well-structured daily lesson plans
the use of consistent terminology used by teachers, children and parents
the use of consistent resources that support the teaching of Little Wandle
effective use of repetition throughout the programme
maximizing the impact of regular and manageable assessment to ensure that all children keep up rather than catch up.
Pupils are encouraged to use their phonic techniques to read the books and as they increase in difficulty through the stages they develop an awareness of the construction of story lines and character development on a simple basis. Guided reading and whole class reading sessions look at reading ability and also their comprehension of what they are reading.
All children who are working on Phase 5 phonics and below are given a decodable book to take home that has graphemes in which they have previously been taught. Each child also receives a sharing book to take home, which may have some words in which are not decodable and this is to encourage reading for pleasure to enjoy as a shared book with parents.
Key Stage 2
In Key Stage 2 (and for the more able readers towards the end of Key Stage 1) we begin to move from the reading schemes into real books. Our books are banded according to the complexity involved in reading. Pupils are able to choose books from the different levels that will enhance their reading abilities. There are Project X books and graphic novels which appeal to many children, but are designed to engage boys more in their reading.
Weekly guided reading or whole class reading sessions take place with a range of good quality fiction or non-fiction group sets.
Daily reading sessions are designed to develop a love of reading and pupils are encouraged to bring in their own books or choose from their class libraries.
Throughout KS2 we begin to look at more complex texts and develop deeper reading skills by utilising extracts from classic books or other longer books broken into chapters. Teachers plan lessons that allow them to question pupils about what they are reading and probe the children about what authors styles indicate about the characters and story lines.
All teachers have had training in developing children’s reading skills and assessing their progress using various reading criteria.
Promoting Reading for pleasure is a focus in school with regular book swaps, author visits, spotlights on authors and the children enjoying regular library sessions when they enjoy their reading.