Reading Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement

Intent at White Court School:

At White Court School, we believe that reading is a fundamental life skill as both a learning tool and as a means of enjoyment, and we are committed to making our children life-long readers.

It is our intention that children leave us being able to read fluently, enthusiastically and critically so they have a strong foundation ready for when they embark on their secondary education and future life journeys.

Therefore, we encourage our children to read a wide range of vocabulary rich fiction and non-fiction texts in order to:

• Develop their understanding and appreciation of the world around them: seeing beyond what they already know
• Establish a love of reading: viewing it as a tool to increase happiness, grow creativity and as a form of escapism
• Gain knowledge across the curriculum
• Grow familiarity with a wider range of authors and genres    
• Increase comprehension skills including a deeper understanding of strategies needed before, during and after reading

We recognise the importance of taking a consistent whole school approach to the teaching of reading in order to close any gaps and to target the highest possible number of children attaining the expected standard or higher.

Implementation at White Court School:

Our curriculum is delivered through synthetic phonics, whole class guided reading, home reading, reading across the curriculum, regular opportunities for prolonged independent reading and hearing high quality texts read aloud every day. These are all essential as they offer a range of opportunities needed to develop our fluent, enthusiastic and critical readers.

Synthetic Phonics:

At White Court School we use the Department of Education approved document ‘Letters and Sounds’ alongside resources created by White Court School to support with the teaching and learning. This is in the form of pictures, rhymes and videos. Resources are consistent across the school and follow the Letters and Sounds teaching structure to ensure progression. White Court School teachers follow a detailed curriculum progression document that outlines teaching and learning each week and the resources provide children with confidence to embed this learning. 

Alongside these resources, White Court School use Big Cat phonics books that have been carefully selected and grouped to match teaching and learning. Children are only exposed to books that are in line with their teaching and learning in class to ensure they are fluent and confident readings when applying phonics to reading. This allows our phonics teaching and learning to be progressive from FS to Year 2 and beyond where needed.

In Key Stage 2, the children who have not completed the schools chosen SSP programme are assessed regularly, by class teachers, to ensure that they have Phonics teaching pitched at the appropriate level. Children who did not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year 2 are monitored to ensure that they have opportunities to reach the age-related level of attainment.

SEE PHONICS PAGE ON THE SCHOOL WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Whole Class Guided Reading:

In Years 1 and 2, children take part in weekly whole class guided reading sessions alongside the teaching of phonics to improve fluency and comprehension.

They follow a planning format split into the following sections:

• Identifying prior knowledge
• Exploring vocabulary
• Reading to fluency
• Comprehending the text
• Revisiting vocabulary

In KS2, children take part in daily whole class guided reading sessions to improve fluency, in the moment comprehending and after reading analysis.

They follow a planning format split into the following sections: 

• Link to prior knowledge 
• Introduction to vocab
• Reading to fluency 
• In the moment comprehension (Think Aloud) 
• Vocabulary 
• Retrieval 
• Inference 
• Finding evidence to support ideas (3 marker)

The children read and study extracts from a range of authors, genres and text types. These are vocabulary-rich, age-related and follow a clear progression across the school.

Within these sessions, children learn different reading strategies and we follow the CVIPERS approach from Literacy Shed.

C = compare and contrast

V = vocabulary

I = Inference

P = prediction

E = explanation and evidence

R = retrieve and record

S = summary

Home Reading:

Children are encouraged to read at home regularly in order to maintain their progression and interest in reading and create strong links between school and home.

Children and parents are required to document any home reading in their blue reading records. Weekly, the children are set book or vocabulary tasks which they complete in these books also.

Additionally, In KS1, children take home word walls, spelling lists and phonic sounds to practise alongside their reading books.

In FS and Year 1 (including some children in Year 2) are required to take home three books:

• Phonics Book: a book that contains only the sounds the children have been learning in class. These books are to be read independently by the child and read to fluency before they move onto the next book.
• Grapple Book: this book follows our colour band progression and contains a wider range of words and sounds that the children can be exposed to. This book should be read with parents/carers together until the child feels confident attempting it on their own.
• Reading for Pleasure Book: this book is to be read by the parent/carer and is simply to just be enjoyed by the child.

Books can be alternated daily and all books go towards the reading reward scheme.

Reading Reward Scheme:

In school, class teachers record how often the children read at home and the children collect certificates at different intervals:

Bronze: 30 reading points

Silver: 80 reading points

Gold: 130 reading points

Ruby: 200 reading points

Platinum: 250 reading points

Each time the children receive a certificate, their name is entered into a prized draw where they can win further reading rewards.

Children get points for reading, completing extra challenges and showing progress with their reading at home.

Further Reading Strategies:

We also expose the children to reading opportunities across the curriculum and make links to reading strategies in other core and foundation subjects.

Children partake in weekly DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) sessions that encourage the children to read independently to themselves and improve their perseverance when reading for longer periods of time.

Teachers are required to read high quality texts to the children every day in order to model how to read aloud to the children, expose them to new vocabulary and so that the children can engage with and enjoy whole texts throughout the year.

Impact at White Court School:

The impact of the teaching and learning of reading at White Court School measured through the following:

KS1

• Pupils will be able to decode and recognise enough sight words at the end of KS1 to be able to confidently and fluently read a text at their level
• Children’s progress in phonics is continually reviewed through periodic assessments and evidence from reading and writing
• In June, the national Phonics Screening Check is undertaken to confirm that the children have learned to decode to an age-appropriate standard and determines level of provision needed in Year 2
• Comprehension is assessed through the use of summative NFER tests (from Spring in Year 1) and they are used as a diagnostic tool to identify gaps and lead future planning and interventions
• In Year 2, children have SATs which are reported nationally

KS2

• Summative NFER tests are used Autumn, Spring and Summer term in Years 3-5 as an assessment and diagnostic tool to identify gaps and lead future planning and interventions
• In Year 6, children have SATs which are reported nationally

Whole School

• Salford Reading assessments are conducted to identify children’s reading ages
• Pupils will enjoy reading across a range of genres
• Children will have an increased knowledge of authors (including house authors)
• Children will understand different reading strategies  and identify what makes a good reader
• Parents and carers will have will have a good understanding how they can support reading at home
• The % of children working at ARE within each year group will be at least in line with national averages

If children are not at ARE, steps are in place to identify gaps and targeted interventions are put in place to close gaps.