Reading at The Willows

At The Willows we aim to develop the children, staff and parents as reading heroes, to ensure that every child fosters a love of reading. They learn to read skillfully and as quickly as possible and understand that reading is both an essential life skill and an enjoyable activity.

We strive to create a reading culture where reading is prioritised and at the heart of everything we do, using a whole school approach that promotes reading for pleasure and achievement for all.

At The Willows we want:

• every child to be a reader

• early readers to have the skills to decode words, so that they can read fluently, as quickly as possible

• children to understand what they have read

• children to respond with curiosity about what they and others have read

• children to become enthusiastic and motivated to read for pleasure

• develop children's knowledge of a wide range of authors and illustrators

• to develop a reading culture that ensures all children have the skills to approach any text with confidence and enjoyment

How we teach reading at The Willows

EYFS and KS1

• Daily phonics lessons using Read Write Inc which is a synthetic phonics programme that helps children to learn to read fluently and at speed, focusing on comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. Phonics learning is revisited throughout the day and is connected to all curriculum areas, with an aim for all children to make rapid progress, so that they become fluent readers as quickly as possible. Children who do not make rapid progress are identified and participate in small group sessions to close gaps.

KS2 Phonics

• Children in Key Stage 2 who are reading below age related expectations participate in daily small group Fresh Start sessions to allow them to catch up with their peers.

Accelerated Reader

• Accelerated Reader is a programme for children who can read independently. Children complete Star Reader Tests at the beginning of the school year to assess them a reading age and appropriate book level, children choose their own books independently from our vast range of texts, within this level. Once a child has finished reading their book they complete an AR quiz - this measures their understanding of what has been read. When the quiz has been done children can then change their books. 

One to One reading

• All children read to an adult in school at least once a week. Children following the RWI programme read their phonics book, which is completely decodable and matched to their secure phonics level. Children in KS2, who are secure in their phonics knowledge, read their Accelerated Reader book or a book of their choice from the school library.

Guided Reading

• In Key Stage 2 children participate in 45 minute guided reading session daily. The lessons are planned to explicitly teach the requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 for reading using fiction, non-fiction, poetry, illustrations and sometimes film clips. As part of the National Curriculum comprehension requirements studied include sequencing, retrieval, vocabulary, explanation, prediction and inference. See timetable below.

Story Time

All children are read aloud to on a daily basis in all year groups. This may be done as part of their reading sessions or as a story time at the end of the day. We believe that by reading aloud, good quality texts to children we not only promote reading for pleasure but also allow children to access texts they may not choose or be able to access themselves .

Reading at home

Parents are expected to hear their children read daily, even if they are fluent readers. Guidance on how to help your children can be found below.

Accelerated Reader

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