READING POLICY 2019-2020   

Introduction

This document aims to show the school’s reading ethos and how it is practised through discretely taught Teaching of Reading sessions as well as other areas across the school and curriculum. It will set out a series of expectations for teachers, providing clarity for all members of staff to ensure that all our pupils are provided with a rich and varied learning experience that aims to develop the children as lifelong readers. Through the curriculum and our practice we strive to develop a culture of reading through consistently using high quality texts  that demonstrate aspirational language and grammatical structure; a variety of texts that inspire and enthuse children; texts with themes that help our children to develop and promote the school’s values as well as ensuring their personal, social, spiritual and emotion needs are met and where children are able to progress and reach their full potential.

Reading Intent at Lawrence

We at Lawrence recognise that reading is the key to success! The development of reading skills start as soon as children enter our Foundation Stage in the Nursery and continues throughout the school, appropriate to the age, ability and needs of the child. All staff and governors consider the teaching of reading to be a priority and continually strive to improve and develop our practice to ensure that the children are the best that they can be.

At Lawrence, we value reading as a key life skill, and are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers. We believe reading is key for academic success and lifelong learning.

By the time children leave Lawrence we aim for all children to be competent readers who can:

• recommend books to their peers.

• have a thirst for reading a range of genres including poetry. 

• participate in discussions about books, including evaluating an author’s use of language and the impact this can have on the reader.

• become lifelong readers.

At Lawrence we believe that every child can learn to read with the right teaching and support.

This in turn helps our children to leave us at the end of Key Stage 2 being:

• INDEPENDENT 

• CREATIVE

• FORWARD THINKING

• RESILIENT

• RESPECTFUL

• ACTIVE

• OPEN MINDED

What is Reading at Lawrence?

As a school, we believe that creating a culture of reading is a vital tool in ensuring our children are given the best life chances. Cultivating readers with a passion for a wide range of materials will ensure that children’s love of reading will extend far beyond the classroom and allow them to build on their skills independently through a real curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Through our discussions and research, we believe that the following principles are at the forefront of our approach to reading. 

• Reading is challenging: We develop our understanding and command of the English language through our experience of and exposure to challenging texts 

• Reading is varied: We recognise that reading comes in many forms and essential to everyday life

• Reading is inspirational: We are enthused and stimulated by what we read and use the ideas and techniques that we have experienced when reading to inform our own written work

• Reading for pleasure must be actively encouraged and celebrated

Whole class Teaching of Reading

 At Lawrence Community Primary School we use Active Read 5 so that the teacher can better plan activities which allow children to access reading skills. It also allows the teacher to work with the children that need it the most at that time. Differentiation can be achieved in many ways: the difficulty of the text the children are working on; the questions the teacher is asking them; the level of support they are receiving. The outcome of the lesson is often written but not always. Teaching the whole class the same objective removes the problem of independent groups, it allows the teacher to focus on one objective in depth and better prepare children for the expectation of written responses at the end of KS2.

Make reading skills explicit and simple

Children need to be aware of the reading skills they are using in order to give them a greater understanding of what makes a well-rounded reader. This means we now have an extended focus on Reading Skills using Active Read 5. Teaching whole class sessions allows the teacher a greater amount of time on focused skills rather than skimming over them.

Phonics For Weaker Readers

Weaker readers can and should still receive phonics support. The ability to decode texts is vital if children are to become effective readers. If they can’t do this, support must be put in place so that they are able to do this confidently. Key Stage 1 children have dedicated phonics session daily and children who did not pass the phonics screening on the second attempt should still receive support in Key Stage 2 if their ability to decode is still impacting them as a reader. TA support outside the Teaching of Reading time should be dedicated daily to 1:1 reading with children that have not yet mastered the ability to decode or read with a degree of fluency.

Read Write Inc: Fresh start is used to target the gaps in children’s phonics knowledge in Years 5 and 6.

Developing a Culture of Reading

Developing a culture of reading at Lawrence is fundamental to the progression of the children not only in reading but across all other subjects. In classrooms teachers will place a high value on books and reading by;  

• Ensuring that the classroom has a well-designed and looked after book corner 

• Caring for books through the use of school and class librarians 

• Finding daily opportunities for children to read independently

• Ensuring that daily reading aloud of aspirational and engaging texts happens at the end of everyday 

The school will provide additional events and activities to widen the scope of reading such as:  

• Regular trips to Wavertree Library  and Sefton Park Library

• An annual celebration of World Book Day

• Visits by readers of various languages other than English

• Prizes and awards will be linked to reading

Reading Rate

It is important for our children to be able to access information quickly and efficiently. At Lawrence we regularly give time to increase our reading rate (words per minute) and we expect that by the end of each academic year, it is expected that:

• Pupils will be able to read 70 words per minute at the end of Year 1

• Pupils will be able to read 100 words per minute at the end of Year 2

• Pupils will be able to read 130 words per minute at the end of Year 3

• Pupils will be able to read 140 words per minute at the end of Year 4

• Pupils will be able to read 160 words per minute at the end of Year 5

• Pupils will be able to read 170 words per minute at the end of Year 6

To help children achieve this, children in Year 1 to 6 need to read a familiar, given passage and record how many words they have read in the allotted time. Throughout the year children try to improve the number of words read or reduce the time taken to read the whole passage. This will aim to improve the pace and stamina of children’s reading as they progress through school.  

Reading Corners

Reading Corners are a staple of every classroom at Lawrence Community Primary School. Teachers are expected to organise their book corners at the start of the year and maintain them with the help of the children. Book corners should contain the following: 

• A range of age related texts (with options that will stretch and challenge as well as some texts that can be accessed by lower ability readers). 

• A comfortable space for children to sit and read – this could involve soft seating, cushions, beanbags, rugs etc. 

• Key questions that children can think on when they are reading independently. 

• Something that the children have created – this could be book reviews, class anthologies, reimagining of book covers, etc. These will be added to throughout the year. 

• A system for organisation of texts that is appropriate and accessible for the children to use.

Home School Reading

 Developing strong links between home and school reading is vital in ensuring children become lifelong readers. The school will support parental engagement with their child’s reading by ensuring that appropriate texts are sent home regularly for both independent reading and books to be read aloud.

Pre-teach vocabulary 

When the teacher knows the text they will be using the following day includes topic specific words or difficult vocabulary that they think some of the children will find difficult then these words will be discussed before reading that section. Children can use dictionaries to find out definitions and record them in VocAPPulary in their English or Topic books.They also have access to using a thesaurus to find synonyms and antonyms. 

YEAR GROUP PROVISION

Foundation Stage: 

The curriculum in the Foundation Stage offers many opportunities to develop the skills required for reading. Speaking and listening are two of the first skills to be focused upon; these are developed through listening to stories, shared reading, role play, opportunities for talk through continuous provision and Phase 1 of letters and sounds. To try and develop parental awareness of our approach to reading, we will offer a weekly ‘STAY and PLAY’ workshop where parents are given the opportunity to change their child’s reading book at our lending library and support their children in all areas of the Early Years Curriculum  on an individual basis.

Shared Reading provision 

Shared reading takes place on a daily basis. Children listen to and join in with stories, rhymes and poems and gather information by sharing of non-fiction books and reading information on the computer.

Guided Reading provision

When children are ready additional activities are developed. Children receive weekly guided reading sessions and follow a programme of Talk 4 Writing. Phonics is taught on a daily basis through “Read Write Inc which provides children with a variety of ways of learning. Children are grouped by ability for this session across EYFS.

Independent Reading provision

Children are encouraged to share and read texts and books at home. Parents of children in Reception are invited to a reading meeting where we talk to parents about the importance of sharing books and foster a love of reading for lifetime enjoyment. Initially children are given picture books with simple repetitive text to begin the process of taking books home. The children will take home a ditty book home to practice their phonics

Year 1:

Building on the Foundation Stage provision, there is a reading area in Year 1, where children have the opportunity to read and act out stories, using the costumes and items provided linked to the topic or theme. Read, Write Inc. Phonics work is undertaken daily, the main focus is applying phonic knowledge to reading and writing. 

Read, Write Inc. 

Phonics work is undertaken daily, the main focus is applying phonic knowledge to reading and writing.

Shared Reading provision

During home time, big books and stories are shared and discussed. Lots of inference and deduction encouraged. 

Shared Reading Provision

Active reading 5 is undertaken daily for 30min sessions every afternoon. 5 day plan to be followed. A weekly structure of text talk, word detectives, rapid retrieval, thinking caps and question of the week will be followed. SEND and EAL to be supported by TA and middle and higher abilities to be mixed. Lots of opportunities for talking partners to be encouraged.  Opportunity for green pen marking, self-assessment tick or fix opportunities given.  

Independent Reading provision

Home readers/ individual reading books are changed once a week. The children are listened to weekly and their understanding is checked. The less able children are listened to more frequently.

Year 2: 

There is a reading corner with different genres of books which the children have access to when tasks are finished and during any Golden time.

Shred Reading Provision

Active read 5 is used for the explicit teaching of reading skills in order to develop pupils’ comprehension. This is timetabled as 5X 30 minute sessions with pupils recapping prior skills and independently applying skills to a range of extracts linked to topics. Teachers deliver the sessions and TAs support

Read Write Inc. with Y2 Spellings

There are 4 main groups ranging from ditty groups to Y2 spelling these occur on a daily basis. 

Shared Reading provision 

Children will split into two groups once each week to share a differentiated story with a teacher

Children have lots of opportunities to read daily, as small groups/pairs and whole class throughout most areas of the curriculum. The Class Teacher models and demonstrates reading of different genres throughout the school year. Short stories or a class reader are regularly shared. 

Independent Reading provision

Children are given a home reading book from the same reading band as they read in guided reading sessions appropriate to their ability. They are encouraged to bring their Reading bags every day. Children are rewarded with dojo points for reading completed at home and for bringing book bags to school each day. Children are heard read at least twice a week by the Class Teacher or TA in a daily reading group of less able children in order to accelerate progress. 

Children ‘Speed Read every day and record their reading rate.

Children who did not pass the phonics screening check will take home ‘speedy green words’ weekly.

Year 3: 

Children are given plenty of opportunity to spend time in the reading area throughout the day. Reading areas are a colourful, inviting space for children to quietly read in. Cushions, blankets or chairs are used so the children feel comfortable and can spend quality time relaxing on their own or with other children in class where they can engage in book talk and share ideas and opinions with one another.

The children are regularly encouraged to read aloud, in their head and in pairs. They have access to a range of texts that are clearly labelled for the children to use. Topic books are displayed for children to develop their own knowledge independently

The teacher reads a class novel to the children at the end of every day .

Shared Reading provision:
A wide variety of texts are shared with the children in Year 3 such as stories, information texts and poetry. There is plenty of class discussion about the features of the text so the children become increasingly familiar with the different text types they access. They also have regular opportunities to practise their inference and prediction skills.

Active read 5 is used for the explicit teaching of reading skills in order to develop pupils’ comprehension. This is timetabled as 5X 30 minute sessions with pupils recapping prior skills and independently applying skills to a range of extracts linked to topics. Teachers deliver the sessions and TAs support

Individual Reading:

Children are encouraged in English lessons to read the text independently in their heads or aloud with expression for the class to hear. They also have the opportunity to read out their work and share their ideas with the class.

Children in Year 3 are also individually listened to throughout the week by a TA. These books are then taken home and they are encouraged to read with an adult. 

“Speedy Readers” count and record how many words they have read in a minute. Children have access to Bug Club where they are able to independently complete activities and further improve their comprehension skills.

Year 4:

Individual Reading:

All children will be listened to read individually and in ability groups and this will be recorded in their individual reading records. There will be silent reading every morning at registration for 10-15 minutes. SEN children receive extra practice with letter sounds and are listened to read individually on a regular basis by TA and Inclusion support. Reading books will be changed and checked each Friday afternoon. The Book Corner area has a Topic area where the focus in Science, History or Geography is displayed. Children are starting to ‘Speed Read’ every day and record their reading rate. Bug Club is being used to supplement reading both in school and at home. Most children access Grey level books with some exceptions made for EAL and SEN children who are accessing books from KS1 that can be read aloud to them digitally.

Shared Reading:

Reading takes place daily using Science, History, Geography and RE texts as well as reading for research using search engines, part of our Computing focus in Year 4. Children are encouraged to talk about what has happened in the texts, make predictions, express thoughts and feelings about characters and comprehension of the text. The class text (normally from Wordsmith) is often used as a basis for English lessons, including the teaching of punctuation, spelling and grammar.

Active read 5 is being used for the explicit teaching of reading skills in order to develop comprehension skills. 30 minute sessions happen daily with pupils recapping prior skills and independently applying skills to a range of extracts linked to topics. Year 4 teachers deliver the sessions and TAs support.

Year 5:

Shared Reading: 

There are many opportunities to share reading in a range of genres in whole class and small groups incorporating all areas of the curriculum.

The Class novel is usually teacher led, but individual children are asked or can volunteer to read aloud with expression. Discussions are held about what has happened in the text, predictions, thoughts and feelings about characters and comprehension of the text at various times throughout. The class novel is often used as a basis for literacy lessons, e.g. the teaching of punctuation, grammar and writing different text types and sometimes handwriting practice.

Active read 5 is used for the explicit teaching of reading skills in order to develop pupils’ comprehension. This is timetabled as 5X 30 minute sessions with pupils recapping prior skills and independently applying skills to a range of extracts linked to topics. Teachers deliver the sessions and TAs support

Individual Reading:

All children are listened to read individually, others silently read either morning or afternoon at registration for 10-15 minutes. SEN children receive extra practice with letter sounds and are listened to read individually on a more regular basis. Reading books are changed and checked each Friday afternoon. The Book Corner area is very popular and children enjoy taking turns to read there. Children ‘Speed Read every day and record their reading rate.

Shared Reading

There are many opportunities to share reading in a range of genres in whole class and small groups incorporating all areas of the curriculum. Class novel: usually teacher led, but individual children are asked or can volunteer to read aloud. Discussions are held about what has happened in the text, predictions, thoughts and feelings about characters and comprehension of the text at various times throughout. The class novel is often used as a basis for literacy lessons, e.g. the teaching of punctuation, grammar and writing different text types and sometimes handwriting practice.

Active read 5 is used for the explicit teaching of reading skills in order to develop pupils’ comprehension. This is timetabled as 5X 30 minute sessions with pupils recapping prior skills and independently applying skills to a range of extracts linked to topics. Teachers deliver the sessions and TAs support

Year 6: 

Shared Reading

There are many opportunities to share reading in a range of genres in whole class and small groups incorporating all areas of the curriculum. Class novel: usually teacher led, but individual children are asked or can volunteer to read aloud. Discussions are held about what has happened in the text, predictions, thoughts and feelings about characters and comprehension of the text at various times throughout. The class novel is often used as a basis for English lessons, e.g. the teaching of punctuation, grammar and writing different text types and sometimes handwriting practice.

Active read 5 is used for the explicit teaching of reading skills in order to develop pupils’ comprehension. This is timetabled as 5X 30 minute sessions with pupils recapping prior skills and independently applying skills to a range of extracts linked to topics. Teachers deliver the sessions and TAs support

Individual Reading:

Children are given opportunities to read independently several times a week. Identified children take part in Rapid Readers intervention and IDL. 

From January to May, children are invited to participate in Reading Booster classes after school.

Children are given the opportunity to read work aloud for others to evaluate.

Children ‘Speed Read every day and record their reading rate.

READING RAPS

Early reading ignites creativity, sparks curiosity, and stimulates the imagination in young children. Often, this leads to role-play as children grow which helps to develop other skills such as empathy, problem-solving, and morality.

ACTIVE READERS at LAWRENCE COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL

Research shows that skilled or expert readers possess seven strategies to construct meaning before, during, and after reading a text. When skilled pupils read, it is an active process. Their minds are constantly processing information extracted from the text, e.g., questioning the author, summarising passages, or interpreting images. Contrarily, struggling readers often unthinkingly read the words on the page. For them, reading is an inactive activity. Constructing meaning from the text does not naturally occur in the mind of a struggling reader.

Fortunately, the cognitive skills of expert readers can be taught. The most effective way for pupils to learn these skills is through explicit and direct instruction. It is important that teachers model these strategies to the class before allowing pupils to independently use one of them. Modelling a strategy provides pupils with a clear understanding of why they were given the task and how to complete it properly.

 Strategies of Highly Skilled Readers

Below is a summary of the strategies of highly skilled readers.  The seven strategies can be used with a variety of texts depending on the discipline. Examples of text include a script for a play, a mathematical word problem, a pie chart, a recipe, or instructions for a science experiment.

1. Activating: Pupils use their past experiences and/or knowledge to better understand the text.

2. Summarising: Pupils restate the purpose and meaning of a text in their own words.

3. Monitoring and Clarifying: Pupils determine if they understand the text. If there are misunderstandings, they clarify and correct the confusion during and after reading a text.

4. Visualising and Organising: Pupils create mental images of the text.

5. Searching and Selecting: Pupils gather information from various resources to select that which allows them to define key words, answer questions, or solve problems.

6. Questioning: Pupils create questions about the text, ask themselves questions while reading the text, and answer different levels of questions about the text from their peers and/or teacher. 

7. Inferring: Pupils interpret the text and draw logical conclusions. 

(Note: These strategies are adapted from Elaine McEwan's 40 Ways to Support Struggling Readers in Content Classrooms,.)

Choosing a Strategy

It is important to intentionally select a reading strategy according to learning objectives. Before choosing a strategy, here are some questions for consideration by our teachers:

• What text will pupils read?
• How many times, if any, have pupils experienced this type of text?
• How should pupils interact with the text? Should they question it or make inferences about the information presented in the text?
• What part or parts of the text may challenge pupils the most?
• What support(s) can be provided to help pupils with those anticipated challenges, such as vocabulary, before reading a text?
• What skill do pupils need to improve or strengthen during or after reading the text?
• How will the strategy be modelled to the class?

Reading and interpreting multiple forms of texts can be a daunting task. Thankfully, pupils in any classroom can learn the analytical capabilities of skilled readers. This practice takes time and patience. With purposeful implementation of these strategies across all subject areas, pupils can progress from dependent, inactive readers to highly skilled thinkers who independently process information from a text.

YOU CAN DO IT!

ACTIVE READ

At Lawrence we dedicate 30 minutes per day in addition to English lessons  to the explicit teaching of reading skills, in order to develop pupils’ reading comprehension. 

MONITORING THE IMPACT OF ACTIVE READING DURING HOME LEARNING

At Lawrence we dedicate 30 minutes per day in addition to English lessons to the explicit teaching of reading skills, in order to develop pupils’ reading comprehension. We were able to continue this throughout the period of home learning (January 2021- March 2021).

We found that

• Children are engaged and focused in lessons
• Teachers  ensure lessons are meaningful
• Children are becoming aware of the reading strategies
• A good range of vocabulary is being used
• Children are using sentence starters to formulate their verbal/ written responses.
• Pre-read with EAL and SEN children - accessing the text.

How we can Improve (Next Steps)

We will link our active read sessions to make closer links to topics previously taught (distance from learning) or soon to be taught (pre teach)

We asked a sample of pupils to identify types of questions and the strategies that they would use to answer them.

November 2020

68 % of pupils could recognise a ‘summarise’ question

52 % of pupils could give a strategy that they would use to answer

71 %of pupils could recognise a ‘meaning of word in context’ question

52 % of pupils could give a strategy that they would use to answer

69 % of pupils could recognise a ‘retrieval’ question

69 % of pupils could give a strategy that they would use to answer

52 % of pupils could recognise an ‘Inference’ question

45 % of pupils could give a strategy that they would use to answer

March 2021

72 % of pupils could recognise a ‘summarise’ question. This is an increase of 4 %

68 % of pupils could give a strategy that they would use to answer. This is an increase of 16 %

80 % of pupils could recognise a ‘meaning of word in context’ question. This is an increase of 9 %

67 % of pupils could give a strategy that they would use to answer. This is an increase of 15 %

78 % of pupils could recognise a ‘retrieval’ question. This is an increase of 9%

71 % of pupils could give a strategy that they would use to answer. This is an increase of 2%

68 % of pupils could recognise an ‘Inference question. This is an increase of 16%

60 % of pupils could give a strategy that they would use to answer. This is an increase of 15%

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#1 Reading helps children to feel more optimistic and to see a world in which they can achieve their dreams

#2 When children read widely and often, they develop higher-order thinking skills

#3 Children are five times more likely to finish a book they have chosen themselves

YEAR 1 READING FOR PLEASURE

We have made an outdoor library box to encourage the children to read for pleasure and we have also created a curriculum library for KS1 in the corridor.

PUPIL VOICE

As part of our continuous drive to improve reading, we  asked our READING CHAMPIONS to carry out a survey into attitudes to reading. We gathered the opinions of learners, teaching staff and parents/carers. 

PUPIL RESPONSES

80% of pupils who responded like reading very much.

86% of pupils who responded said that they read for pleasure every day.

86% of pupils agreed that reading is cool.

100% of pupils have a favourite author.

100% of pupils have a favourite book.

62% of pupils enjoy reading on their own.

72% of pupils enjoy being read to by their teacher.

76% of pupils said that they have books at home.

76% of pupils said that they read at home with their family.

28% of pupils said that go to the local library.

56%of pupils said that they regularly buy books from a shop or online.

Staff Responses

100% of staff said that they enjoyed reading very much.

83% of staff said that they read for pleasure every day.

100% of staff have a favourite author.

100% of staff have a favourite book.

100% of staff agree that it is important that learners read for pleasure.

100% of staff are quite or very confident about recommending books to their learners.

100% of staff are confident that the learners in their class(es) enjoy reading.

Parent/Carer Responses

74% of parents/carers said that their children enjoyed reading.

68% of parents/carers said that they look forward to reading with their children.

84% of parents/carers agreed that it was important that their child(ren) read for fun.

50% of parents/carers said that they read for fun regularly.

50% of parents/carers said that they would like to be invited into school for reading activities.

33% of parents/carers said that they would like help with their own reading skills.

68% of parents/carers said that they had seen the ‘Advice for Reading’ pages on the school website.

For the Love of Reading!

Storybarn is an imaginative play space dedicated to sharing the delights of reading with young children and their families.

The Storybarn exists to spark a life-long love of books and reading and an unending curiosity to explore the astonishing worlds of our imaginations.

EVERYONE can now experience and enjoy great literature which we believe is a tool for helping humans survive and live well.