Here at Coombe Bissett it is our intention to foster a love of reading in our children as well as to enable our children to be confident and competent readers.
Reading books that go home
In KS1 we develop the skills of decoding / word recognition and sentence building through 1:1 reading 2 to 3 times per week. However, at this present time due to Covid-19 and the daily handwashing programme needed to keep our children safe, we are only able to support 1:1 reading once a week, with those needing additional support targeted for extra 1;1 reading. We encurage our parents to increase their home reading during this challengeing time. Our Daily phonics teaches phonics recognition and decoding so that children can sound out the words they are reading. We send home a reading book matched to the phonics they are being taught so that parents can be fully involved in the 'learning to read' process and so that the children can continue to practice the phonic skills taught in class. But we also issue a 'vocabulary aquisition' book that helps children to learn exciting new words and knowledge. These books are beyond the decoding skills of the child and so need to be read with the child by the parent, but these books are issued based on the passion and interest of the child we know so well. We also issue flashcards to help the children practice key words or sounds in order to develop fluency.
The books we use in KS1 come from a range of schemes such as Big Cat, Oxford Reading Tree, Treetops, etc. Whilst we support our children in their reading journey through a familiarity of phonemes, words, patterns and characters we also feel that it is important to offer a wider range than just one scheme so that children do not become reliant on the familiarity of characters and organisational patterns.
As the children progress through to Y2 they can also be introduced to simple chapter books appropriate to their reading ability.
In lower KS2 we continue to provide scaffolded reading through the use of books from......
At this stage they are also introduced to chapter books and ......non-fiction.....
In upper KS2 the majority of children are fluent in reading. As such we introduce them to .....as well as encouraging them to develop a personal interest in reading, bringing in books they are reading at home.
For those children in KS2 who are struggling with reading we support them with books from such reading schemes as .......
Reading Spine
Across the school we also teach a daily Reading Spine. This is a daily 20-25mins of whole class reading (YR, Y1 and Y2 are separate for this provision due to the accelerated progress in reading they make during these years). In this session children read aloud each week to develop their confidence and the teacher models the reading aloud approach to develop comprehension and oracy. Essential vocabulary and language acquisition is enhanced as teachers explore the meanings and use of words. Comprehension strategies are explored and explicitly taught so that children are more than just decoding, they are exploring, meaning making and becoming fully engrossed in the story. The texts are chosen to match the 5 pillars of reading, and to foster a joy of reading. They often link to the topics the children are learning or to an extended series in order to encourage children to develop a love of a particular author / genre. The texts are always ambitious in their level of reading challenge so as to accelerate the language acquisition of the children.
Reading Comprehension Homework
Each week our children from Y1 to Y6 are issued a reading comprehension homework to further engage them in their comprehension skills in their reading. These are provided in a smart booklet to show that this reading at he is highly valued. Each week, the answers are gone through with the children in class - this not only demonstrates to the children how much we value their reading at home (as well as their homework) but it also enables the class teacher to explore any misconceptions the children may have in their comprehension.
Peer to Peer readers
Our older children are paired with our younger children and at regular intervals each term they assist them with their reading. This is highly motivational for the younger children and our older children learn to develop their 'character voice' as well as their 'questioning skills' to help the younger children to develop their comprehension. However, due to the current restrictions of bubbles in response to Covid-19 we are unable to provide this at present.
Reading Olympiad and celebrating reading
We run a 'reading olympiad' scheme to encourage reading at home. Children can attain their Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum reading certificates by regularly reading at home.
In each classroom (Elm, Fir and Ash) there is a reading corner to celebrate reading and to provide prompts for reading exploration. The children have the opportunity to share their 'recommended reads' with their peers. In Oak class the reading corner includes a chance for the children to vote for their choice of end of day class story.