Reading at The Pines

Keep reading – It’s one of the most marvellous adventures anyone can have.

Lloyd Alexsander

Vision and Intent

At The Pines, our vision for the teaching of Reading is that children will be confident, enthusiastic book-lovers who enjoy reading and are excited to talk about the books that they read. We want children to be inspired by books and read across a range of different genres and styles, as well as developing the Reading skills that will allow them to access the whole curriculum. 

We aim to:

• Teach children the necessary skills to enable them to become fluent, competent readers
• Encourage a love of reading so that children develop a life-long appreciation of books
• Provide access to high quality texts that promote vocabulary development and offer exposure to a range of literary styles and features
• Provide and promote a varied diet of books that open children’s eyes to new experiences, different cultures and global issues

Our Curriculum Drivers are reflected through our Reading curriculum as it:

Allows children to understand THEIR PLACE IN OUR WORLD, through exposure to books written by and containing stories from different cultures.
Encourages children to talk about and evaluate the books that they read, improving their skills in LANGUAGE & ORACY.
Enables children to LEARN the SKILLS needed to read fluently and to persevere when decoding and comprehending challenging vocabulary and texts. 
 Gives children the opportunity to choose books that allow them to escape to different worlds, promoting a HEALTHY MIND.

Implementation

Reading threads itself throughout the whole curriculum and therefore the teaching of Reading at The Pines happens in a variety of ways. Below highlights some of those ways. Please see the Reading Policy document for more information. 

Home Reading Books

Children in EYFS and KS1 take home books which are carefully matched to their phonic knowledge based on their most recent phonics assessments and their progress in 1-1 or group reading. Children in KS2 select books from their class libraries which they read each day. Class libraries are stocked with books that children of all reading abilities are able to access and teachers regularly discuss children's reading choices with them to encourage a wide a varied reading diet. 

The Class Novel

Each class has a class novel 'on the go' all of the time. These are sometimes linked to wider curriculum learning however, choosing high-quality, engaging texts for each cohort is always the priority when class novels are selected. The range of class novels teachers choose from have been selected so that each phase is exposed to a wide variety of authors and characters from different cultural and religious backgrounds, as well as having a mixture of female and male authors and protagonists. We believe that reading engaging stories where a range of experiences are represented enables our children to think critically, develop empathy and 'put themselves in someone else's shoes'. We also believe that ALL children should be able to 'see themselves' in the books that they are exposed to. 

Reading Lessons

In EYFS and KS1, children practise the skills of decoding and reading fluently with prosody in small groups where they read the same book at least 3 times. This enables them to develop enough familiarity and fluency to comprehend what they have read and engage in rich discussions about their reading. In KS2, whole class reading lessons take place at least once a week. These sessions are structured around up-to-date research and recommendations for effective reading teaching and as a school we have worked with Herts for Learning to develop our teaching of reading. In lessons, children have extended times for reading, repeated practise and discussion about a range of texts.  

Reading for Pleasure

In EYFS and KS1, children have access to a wide range of high-quality texts which they can access during self-led learning times. They regularly ask adults or friends to read with them as well as reading favourites independently and using books to learn new skills and knowledge. In KS2, children have both daily and weekly reading for pleasure slots when they can enjoy a book of their choice. These opportunities give them time to develop their own reading preferences and promote a love of reading through story telling and book bragging.

Reading for pleasure is based on developing reading communities and each term we aim to host a "booknic" where children can share their love of reading with others.

Library and Reading Nooks

The library at The Pines is a popular place where children regularly visit either during lunchtimes, when our librarians operate the loans system, or in their classes. Books are organised to emulate larger libraries and teach children the skills needed for selecting books of interest. There are also a number of 'Reading Nooks' around the school that are soft, inviting places for children to come and read books.

Assessing Reading

In EYFS and KS1, children's phonic knowledge is assessed each half term. This informs the home reading books given to children, ensuring they are reading books that contain tricky words and graphemes they know, remember and can apply. At this level, children should be able to read books at 90% fluency which is achieved by reading and rereading books a few times. Into KS2, reading is formally assessed termly using PIXL tests. These are used to assess children's reading comprehension skills from Year 1 to Year 6. Teacher assessment of these skills is used but we also have the Salford Reading test that can be used to gain more specific assessment information. 

Impact

The impact of our Reading teaching is evidenced through teacher assessment, PIXL assessments and lesson observations. Discussions with children and pupil voice surveys provide evidence of confidence, engagement and attitudes towards Reading. The written and spoken outcomes of children’s learning demonstrate that they know more, can do more and remember more in Reading.

 - Children at The Pines love reading and have a life-long appreciation of books

 - Children’s confidence in reading is high and they are fluent and competent in their reading ability

 - Children have a diverse knowledge of texts of all genres 

 - Children have knowledge of a varied diet of books that have opened their eyes to new experiences, different cultures and global issues