Red Hall Primary

Red Hall

Primary School

Header Image

Believe and Achieve

How We Teach Reading at Red Hall

Reading Responsibilities for Red Hall

(The quick version)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Introduction

Learning to read is one of the most important things your child will learn at our school. At Red Hall Primary School, we recognise the importance of ensuring our pupils are provided with the necessary skills that will allow them to access the world they live in, as well as promoting a true love for reading!

 

How will my child be taught?

 

  • Each child will read with a skilled adult on a weekly basis – by skilled, we mean: teachers, teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, busy readers and others
  • Children will also have access to guided reading sessions (in groups).
  • Also, they will complete whole class reading tasks, which will deepen their understanding,
  • All children from Year 1 – Year 6 have access to Accelerated Reader, where they take home reading books and ‘quiz’ on them, when they have read the full book
  • Finally, they will have a weekly DEAR session, where they will read for pleasure – staff do this too!

 

 

How can I help?

 

  • Reading with your child is a wonderful thing to do! Sit somewhere quiet and get lost in a book
  • Ask your child questions about the book: “What do you think will happen next? Why?”, “How are the characters the same and different?”
  • Promote reading on an evening, instead of playing on computer games and / or watching the television

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading Responsibilities for Red Hall

(The in-depth version)

 

 

 

The Teaching of Reading

Learning to read is one of the most important things your child will learn at our school. At Red Hall Primary School, we recognise the importance of ensuring our pupils are provided with the necessary skills that will allow them to access the world they live in, as well as promoting a true love for reading!

 

At Red Hall Primary School, we recognise that reading is a complex skill made up of many parts, and it is therefore important that, whilst at school, your child is provided with an opportunity to develop as a confident and competent reader.

 

How will my child be taught to read?

 

Reading is taught regularly, right through the school. It starts right at the start of school in our Two-Year-Old Provision and is promoted throughout your child’s education with us.

 

Initially, we teach reading skills starting in Lullaby Lane. Pupils learn how to hold a book the right way, how to turn pages, how to explore pictures, and are exposed to hearing stories – all vitally important skills to begin the reading journey. 

“We’re going on a bear hunt”

 

Following this, pupils move on to the highly successful ‘Read Write Inc’ program in Nursery. Children learn how to ‘read’ the sounds (phonics) in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but also helps children learn to spell well.

 

Once children grasp these sounds and can blend them together to form words, they practise reading books that match the phonics and words they know. They start to believe they can read and this does wonders for their confidence.

 

Teachers regularly read to the children too, so the children get to know and love all sorts of stories, poetry and information books. This helps to extend children’s vocabulary and comprehension, as well as support their writing.

From Reception until the end of Year 2, your child will work in groups, with children who are at the same reading level as them. This is so that the teaching can be focused on their individual needs. Some older children will continue to access ‘Read, Write, Inc.’ if they need further consolidation and development of their reading skills. We check children’s reading skills regularly so that we can place them in the correct groups. Children will move to a different group if they are making faster progress, or may have one-to-one support if we think they need some extra help. For children who may struggle with reading or their reading skills are not at the expected level for their age will be involved in additional support programmes e.g. Oxford Owl For Home which aims to provide intervention and diminish the differences as quickly as possible. It includes free e-books, books that can be read to the children as well as games for the children to play.

 

In Key Stage 1 and 2, the children undertake daily reading activities, including VIPERS (targeted reading skill questions) and regular guided reading sessions with staff, within their classes. All pupils have access to a wide selection of reading materials (fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, classics , poetry etc) to choose from and take part in regular activities within their literacy sessions, promoting the reading skills which are vital to be a competent reader.

 

Every child will be heard individually reading weekly by a skilled adult. We are also fortunate that each class has been given a Busy Reader (a trained adult who comes in to hear children read) so some children also get the opportunity to read to them.

You can view our reading assessment grid here: Y1-6 Reading Progression & Assessment (1).

 

Accelerated Reader

 

All children from Year 1 to Year 6 can access Acelerated Reader, which is an online programme that aids and progresses children’s comprehension ability. Children complete a STAR test termly which provides them with a ZPD Reading Range. Children then read a book from anywhere within this reading range, once they have read the book, they take an online quiz which determines their understanding. Reports are generated weekly and monthly so that staff can assess progress and plan accordingly.

 

How long will it take my child to learn to read well?

 

All of us continue to learn to read – It is a process that never stops! In the summer term of Year 1, we carry out a reading assessment on your child known as the Phonics Screening Test. The children will read a range of pseudo and real words within the Screening Test. Any children who still require support will re-sit the Screening Test in Year 2. From this information we can work out where your child’s development is currently, and what needs to be done to move them forward.

 

At the end of Year 2 and Year 6, your child will then take part in National Tests which are designed to assess your child’s progress in reading. This will allow both you and the school to know exactly how well your child is reading, and identify what needs to be done to secure their ongoing progress.

 

Every child is different and children will learn to read at different speeds. During Year 2, most children will be able to read aloud books that are at the right level for his or her age. In Year 3 and beyond, we concentrate more on helping children to understand what they are reading, although this work begins very early on. 

 

What does the school offer to give my child reading incentives?

 

At Red Hall Primary School, we have made significant investment in high quality books to encourage your child to access a range of texts suited to their own personal interests, whilst also extending their reading ability and confidence. Both the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 yards have a Reading Shed which is stocked with lovely books for those children who prefer to read at break or lunchtime. Weekly prizes are given to those who read at least three times a week. Termly prizes are given to the most consistent reader from each class. 

 

 

 

What can parents/carers do to help?

 

 

We expect that children will read at home at least three times a week and support this by ensuring children always have a home reading book.

 

As your child starts school in our Foundation Phase, you will be invited to a ‘Phonics’ event which will allow your child’s teacher to explain how he/she will be teaching reading, and the strategies that you can use at home to help support this. Lots of ideas are shared in this meeting and your support really does get your child off to a flying start and encourages them to make great progress. Regularly listening to your child read has a massive impact on their reading!

 

You can help your child to segment (sound out) the letters in words and then to ‘blend’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds. You can see how to pronounce the sounds properly in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q

 

Sometimes your child might bring home a book they already know. Please don’t say ‘This is too easy’, as they may have chosen that because they enjoy it or they may need to reread the book to build up their confidence. Instead, encourage your child to tell you the story out loud; ask them questions about things that happen or what they think about some of the characters in the story. 

 

Make reading fun! Remember to keep reading to your child, as well as listening to them. They will come across far more adventurous words than they will in their early reading books and you will be helping them to grow a vast vocabulary and develop a deeper understanding of different stories. It will also encourage them to love books and want to read more!

 

Below are some VIPERS questions that you may find helpful to prompt a discussion about the book you have shared.

Key Stage 1

 

                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key Stage 2

Does it matter if my child misses a lesson or two?

 

It matters a lot if your child misses school. The way we teach children to read is very well organised, so even one missed lesson means that your child may not learn something that they need to know to be a good reader.

 

What if my child finds it difficult to read?

 

We want every child to learn to read, however long it takes us to teach them! We will find out very quickly if your child is finding reading difficult. Firstly, we would support your child through intervention, so that we can make sure that they have learnt what they need to know. If they still struggle, we would look at putting the child into a small group for their ability.

 

If we have any concerns about your child’s reading, we will talk to you about this. 

Remember, all children are individual so some children take a little longer to put sounds together to read a word. At our regular parent meetings, we will explain how you can help your child do this.

 

If you have any further queries about how we teach reading, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.