“If pupils cannot read, they will not be able to access the curriculum, and will be disadvantaged for life”

 Research for EIF framework, p20, 2019

At Stanley St Peter’s our main aim is to ‘Unlock Potential and Celebrate Success’ and we believe that reading is a fundamental skill that will allow us to achieve that aim.  We want all children – regardless of their background, ability or circumstances - to leave our school with a pleasure, enjoyment and ability to read alongside lifelong reading skills that can help them be successful in education and their chosen careers. 

Not only does the ability to read fluently and with comprehension allow children to fully access the curriculum, but it helps improve their imagination, increases their range of vocabulary, improves their language skills and enables them to gain new experiences and seek new opportunities.

Please click on the link below to view our Reading Vision statement.

Early Reading and Writing

The government strongly recommend the use of synthetic phonics when teaching early literacy skills to children. Synthetic phonics is simply the ability to convert a letter or letter group into sounds that are then blended together into a word.

Our consistent and rigorous approach to teaching early reading enables children to master the key skills that research suggests is important early on. To do this, we follow the Read Write Inc. programme; this sets out a sequence of lessons that teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They also learn to form each letter, spell correctly and compose their ideas step-by-step.

Reading

Your child will:
• Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple prompts.
• Learn to read words using sound blending (Fred talk) e.g. c-a-t = cat, sh-o-p = shop.
• Read ‘red words’ these are words that have less common spelling patterns.
• Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out.
• Show that they comprehend the stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove It'.

Writing

Your child will:
• Learn to write the letter/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds.
• Learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (Fred fingers).
• Learn to write simple then more complex sentences.
• Compose stories based on story strips.
• Compose a range of texts using discussion prompts.

Talking

Your child will learn how to:
• Answer questions.
• Practise every activity orally.
• Take turns talking and listening to each other.
• Give positive praise to each other.

Home Reading

While your child is learning to read, they will be given the storybook that they have read in class so that they can practise re-reading it at home- this is done to help them build their confidence and fluency. They will also be given a ‘book bag book’ which will be an exciting text that they will be able to read themselves; this is because they will have learnt all the letters and ‘red words’ already in class, but you can offer some help if they need it. It is really important you listen to your child read at least three times a week. Finally, your child will be given an additional book; this book is for you to read to your child and is crucial for helping them to expand their vocabulary and develop a love for reading.

If you would like to know more about how your child is taught to read, or how you can support at home, ask to speak to our Reading/Phonics Leaders or click on the Parent Booklet links below.

Early Reading and Phonics

If you would like to find out more about early reading at Stanley St. Peters, please follow the link below.

Developing Reading Throughout School

Guided reading sessions occur daily in Years 2-6.

Monday’s lesson is spent introducing the weekly spelling pattern, defining the words in the spelling homework list and completing a spelling activity linked to that week’s spelling.

Whole class guided reading sessions take place from Tuesday to Friday. All children that are able to, access the same text and questions. Children unable to access the texts at Age Related Expectations (even with guidance) may require differentiation.

High quality discussion and modelling from an adult, used in conjunction with our guided reading characters allow children to access the text and become familiar with its content before moving on to more independent comprehension tasks.

Cross curricular links are made wherever possible to ensure that concepts and vocabulary introduced in other subjects are committed to children’s long term memories.

Once children are fluent readers and have come off the Read Write Inc. programme, they will begin to bring home a reading book from our Accelerated Reader (AR) collection.  The idea behind AR is that children enjoy reading more when they can select their own books. (The program has more than 150,000 titles to choose from on its BookFinder list.) Each book has online “reading practice” quizzes, which you may hear referred to as “AR quizzes.” Teachers use these quizzes to track each student’s progress and set appropriate goals for each.  We also subscribe to MyON - myON is a digital platform which allows students unlimited access to thousands of enhanced digital books. Children can enjoy a wide range of genres and authors as well as informational texts. The platform personalises the reading experience by matching children's reading level and interests to help find their next book.

Close-reading tools, including an embedded dictionary, text highlighting and audio also help to develop student engagement with reading.

As well as books, students also have access to age appropriate news articles all year round. These can also be translated into French and Spanish to support the close reading skills of our children.

As myON links to Accelerated Reader all it takes is one click for children to navigate to the Accelerated Reader corresponding quiz.

myON will motivate children to become better and more confident readers as well as taking accountability for their reading growth.

Developing Writing Throughout School

We follow the National Curriculum to teach and plan English lessons. Teachers make use of our English Framework documents to inform and enhance their planning and ensure that all lessons are appropriately differentiated, supportive, engaging and challenging; all the while ensuring the National Curriculum standards for English are met.  Predetermined genres for study in each year group ensure that children get the opportunity to study and write a wide range of texts and text types.

Children begin a unit of writing by studying an example of the genre (WAGOLL - what a good one looks like) and by considering what makes it a successful piece of writing - picking out the structural and language features of the text type.  They are then taught vocabulary, grammar and punctuation skills appropriate to use in that genre, in context, as they 'build' their own version of that text type.  Finally, the context, character, setting or subject of the piece they originally wrote in their 'build up' version is changed and the children are challenged to produce an independent ‘outcome’ piece of writing, remembering to use all that they have been taught during the unit.

Children are regularly assessed to monitor progress towards age related expectations and beyond. Where children are not meeting the expected standard, they are supported via a range of different strategies and children exceeding expectations are challenged to use a greater depth of understanding and a more sophisticated style within their work.

Cross curricular links are made wherever possible to ensure that concepts and vocabulary introduced in other subjects are committed to children’s long term memories.

Spellings are put on our website in the Children's area each week for children to learn and these are tested every Friday. If you would like some ideas of how to support your child with learning their spellings, please click the link below.

Please click the link below to see our Writing Vision statement.

World Book Day 2022

During World Book Day, 2022, the children rehearsed and performed 'The World Book Day Song' (as seen below). Throughout the day, the children were encouraged to share their love of reading and explain which character they had come dressed as and why. We also enjoyed marshmallows and hot chocolate whilst listening to our favourite audiobooks, narrated by our chosen authors. Finally, the children were challenged by published authors to undertake a series of challenges and create their own, exciting narratives! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpTkjssrL4k