Teaching Reading

The Teaching of Reading (incl. approach to phonics, KS1 & KS2 reading strategies)

See our Phonics page for how we make phonic confident pupils.

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The Love of Reading

Inspired by staff training, we developed consistent approaches to our reading areas in classrooms!

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Reading is a priority!

At St. Margaret’s Church of England Primary School our aim is for the children to:

• Become enthusiastic, competent readers who can read with fluency, accuracy and understanding.
• Develop an understanding and appreciation of literature.
• Develop research skills using non-fiction texts.
• Be able to use a full range of reading strategies e.g. phonics, word recognition, graphic knowledge, picture and context clues.
• Have an interest in books, read for enjoyment and provide them with a wealth of texts and story patterns for their own writing.
• Develop the skill of silent reading.
• Develop imagination and critical awareness through reading experiences of the best examples of traditional and modern literature.
• Become proficient in the use of more advanced reading skills such as inference and deduction.
• Have experience of group, shared and individual reading. 

Reading is a key priority in our school.  It is prioritised by our teachers both in the time given of the curriculum over to it, as well as the enthusiasm with which it is taught.

Whe have carefully sequenced the teaching of our reading curriculum from phonics to our reading spine.

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Getting Reading into every Home - The Big Book Giveaway

We recognise that children's lives enriched with books at home is a key driver for promoting a love of reading and reading competence.  Thereofre we ran our first huge book giveaway at the end of World Book Day 2023.

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Reading Spine of Books

We have our designed LION Reading Spine based on the best evidence available in terms of quality text.

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A love of reading

Talk to our children...we have...and they tell us they love reading!

This is a sample of what we do to meet our reading ambitions:

• Meeting the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum. Teacher’s planning ensures coverage of the objectives through various high quality texts.
• Daily whole class reading, supported by Individual, and group (guided and Reciprocal Reading)
• Comprehension skills being formally taught so that strategies are in place to enable the children to develop and use higher order skills such as inference, deduction and criticism of texts.
• Daily phonic sessions in line with Little Wandle (DfE approved adaptation of Letters and Sounds)
• Each child taking part in daily Whole class Reciprocal Reading sessions led by the class teacher or teaching assistant under the guidance of the class teacher.
• Individual children being heard read weekly by the class teacher or teaching assistant as necessary.
• Children whose progress in reading is a cause for concern being targeted by reading with an adult daily and/ or participating in Intervention Programmes such as ECaR, Switch On or Reading and Inference Training.
• Regular reading at home monitored by class teacher. Student planners being used by parents in conjunction with class teachers to ensure communication between home and school. In Foundation Stage children take home 3 books at a time – a home reader, the book they read in Guided Reading that week and a book from the library.
• Children’s Student Planners being monitored weekly.
• The use of a reading reward system through our whole school St Margaret’s Reading Badges whereby children who read for 40, 60, 80 and 100 times per term receive a  red, blue, green and purple badges.
• Every child accessing the ‘Active Learn’ website (both at home and in school), which is designed to develop children’s reading through fun and engaging online games and activities.
• Use of reading targets to enable children to work towards improving their own reading to the next stage for development.
• Regular class story sessions at FS, KS1 and KS2 used to share short stories or a class novel.
• The study of a different author every term (Author Focus).
• Younger children reading with a more experienced partner (Reading Buddies from Year 6).
• Visits to the school and local library.
• The promotion of reading through the Learning Environment, annual Book Week, author/ poet visits, during annual Meet the Teacher sessions, new intake meetings and parents sessions in FS and KS1.
• The opening of our KS1 Library, KS2 Library and Learning Resource Area to children and parents after school to choose books and resources around areas of interest.
• The use of parents as Big Reading Champions to hear children read individually.

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Infant Atrium Library Club - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3.20pm

Come with your child, bring your passport and get it stamped to enter our competition to encourage book borrowing and reading.

Books can be exchanged and taken home as well as the books teachers recommend for your child.

Please bring your child’s Students Planner with you which has a barcode to scan the books onto your child’s account.

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Junior Parents and Kids Reading Club - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3.20pm

Everyone welcome from Year 3 – 6

The Library is open for you to be extra-enthused about books. Parents and children are encouraged to come together to share books, exchange and get advice from our a library ambassadors and staff.

Please bring your child’s Students Planner with you which has a barcode to scan the books onto your child’s account.

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Is your child on track for the new end of term Reading Awards?

Every read at home counts…….sign Student Planners

Bronze – 40 times (same as approx. 3 times every week), Silver – 60 times (same as approx. 5 times every week),

Gold – 80 times (same as approx. 7 times every week)