Intent

At BPA we believe that reading is an essential life skill and we are committed to enabling our children to become lifelong readers. Key to our approach is a determination to foster a love of reading, enriching children’s learning through a carefully designed curriculum, teaching the components of reading (phonics, fluency and comprehension) through thought-provoking texts chosen for their qualities. Reading is a skill that enables children to develop their learning across the wider curriculum and lays the foundations for success in future lines of study and employment. We recognise the importance of taking a whole-school approach to the teaching of reading in order to close any gaps and to target all children attaining the expected standard or higher.

Implementation

For phonics, please see 'Early Reading'

Children who have successfully completed the RWI phonics programme take part in daily guided reading sessions where high quality texts and extracts are chosen appropriate to the expectations of the year group. These sessions are sequenced to incorporate vocabulary exploration, reading the text with fluency and comprehension activities teaching the components of inference outlined in the school’s Reading Progression document. Within English lessons, children across the school read and explore quality picture books, short stories, chapter books, poetry and non-fiction texts chosen to reflect year group expectations and ensure that children have enjoyed a range of authors throughout their primary education. Texts and extracts are chosen to reflect the diversity of our school community.

Within the immersion phase of the English unit, children are taught to identify words and phrases they don’t understand, relate the texts to themselves, their previous reading experiences and the world around them. Through whole-class shared and guided reading sessions children are taught wider decoding skills, grammar for reading and response to texts. It is recognised that children need teacher modelling of active reading and highquality post-reading discussion for children to learn and make progress. By the time they leave Year 6, children at BPA will have been exposed to a range of texts that they can compare, analyse and talk about with confidence and enthusiasm.

The classroom reading environments have been designed to engage children in genre and theme in order to spark their curiosity about books and support their learning during a unit. Displays clearly show information about the focus texts and act as working walls to hook interest and support learning. Knowledge organisers based on core texts outline new vocabulary, key characters, settings and allow children to understand key concepts and themes.

At BPA we believe that regular reading at home and at school is an important tool in developing reading skills. Children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 use Accelerated Reader to assess their reading ability. They choose books according to their reading range and complete mini quizzes to assess their understanding. Children’s progress is continually reviewed through Accelerated Reader assessments and books are chosen accordingly. The school libraries and class book corners contain high-quality books suitable for a range of reading abilities which reflect the diversity of the modern world. Children are expected to read at home for at least 15 minutes a day. In acknowledgement of the fact that children who read and who are read to regularly do better both socially and academically, children working in the bottom 20% are heard to read by LSAs and class teachers once a day. All other children are heard to read by an adult at least once a week. A BPA ‘reading journey’ ensures that children are exposed to a range of texts.

Finally, we celebrate reading together throughout the year by taking part in reading initiatives including National Poetry Day, World Book Day, Book Trust events (Book Buzz and Pyjamarama) and author visits.

Impact

By the end of LKS2 we expect our pupils to have decoding skills that are secure and hence have a developing vocabulary. They are independent, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read widely and frequently. Children will have developed their understanding and enjoyment of stories, poetry and non-fiction texts about a range of subjects which they are able to read silently. By the end of year 6 we expect our children to read sufficiently fluently and effortlessly with understanding at an age appropriate interest level in readiness for secondary school. In addition, children will have a love of reading that feeds the imagination and a range of vocabulary that enriches their cultural capital and increases their opportunities in life.