At Cockfield Primary School, reading is at the heart of everything we do; learning to read allows children to open the door to the wider world and unlock their imaginations. We are passionately driven to enable children to develop both the technical skills of reading, and also generating a love for literature and reading, which will stay with them forever.
For full details of our approach to reading can be found in our Cockfield Primary School Reading Strategy
Within our broader English Curriculum planning, our intent for reading is clear:
We aim
- to instil a love of reading for each child.
- to expose all children to a wealth of language rich texts.
- to develop independent and resilient readers.
- to develop comprehension skills enabling children to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of literature.
- to expose children to a world of words to take with them on their learning journey.
- to ensure that with few exceptions all children reach the expected standard in phonics in Y1 and become fluent, confident early readers by the end of year 2 so that they can access and comprehend all that key stage 2 has to offer.
Very Early Reading
Our journey into reading begins way before our formal teaching of reading. Within our Nursery provision songs and rhymes are a key part of every day life and hearing and engaging in activities such as these help our pupils to build up the foundations of successful reading. Children are also immersed in a book-rich environment where they are read to daily and have the free-flow opportunity to engage with books and book-related activities as part of their daily activities. Children are also encouraged to take home books from our class library to share with adults at home.
How can you help your child at home?
- Role model reading to your child.
- Read books to your child – make this a special time which your child values. This is the beginning of them holding reading and books in a special place in their hearts.
- Share songs and rhymes with your child and encourage them to join in with you.
Phonics at Cockfield
Phonics is the first stepping-stone to reading. At Cockfield we know that effective teaching of phonics is integral to reading success. The Keep Up Not Catch Up philosophy is central to our teaching – we have a relentless determination that no child will fall behind when learning to read.
In Reception and in Year 1 we teach phonics daily using Bug Club phonics. Bug Club is a systematic and progressive scheme which teaches the 26 letters and 44 phonemes in a structured and fun way. This also includes the teaching of “high frequency words” which although can be decoded with high level phonic knowledge are best taught as sight words.
Phoneme (the sounds which are made by letters or combinations of letters) are taught in the order in the table below:
Children’s growing phonic knowledge is closely assessed and tracked, away from the point of teaching, to ensure that all staff know children’s strengths and areas to practise in reading. Home phonic reading books are targeted appropriately and are changed regularly.
How can you help your child at home?
- Continue to enjoy reading picture books and story books to your child.
- Take part in the phonics activities which are sent home/shared on Dojo by teachers.
- When books are sent home encourage your child to read them with you daily – they are very repetitive, but this the key to securing phonics knowledge.
Click here if you would like to learn more about our phonics programme
After phonics, what next?
When children have secured their phonics skills and are able to apply them to read a range of phonic books fluently they move on to reading ‘Banded Books’. These books increase in difficulty and give the children opportunity to read books which are both accessible and challenging. This helps them to develop confidence and fluency in a range of contexts.
Within our school day, children are given regular opportunities to read and listen to stories for enjoyment. We are passionate about reading aloud to our children and encourage each class to have a designated whole class text or a chosen text to enjoy each day. From Year 2, in Reading lessons, children are taught specific skills which help them to understand (comprehend) what they are reading. These lessons are called ‘Fred’ lessons and they introduce children to a wide range of texts and segments from texts which they use their developing comprehensions skills to unpick further.
How can you help your child at home?
- Listen to them read the book which they bring home from school every day.
- Continue to role model reading at home and enjoying books as a family.
- Share bed time books together.
And finally…
When teachers feel confident that a child is reading a ‘Grey’ book fluently and confidently with good understanding, then they move on to using Accelerated Reader. This is a computer programme which helps assess a child’s reading level and points them in the right direction (with a score called a ZPD) of books which they will find accessible and challenging. Children choose Accelerated Reader books from their classroom or the school library and when they have finished reading a book they take an online quiz which helps them to review their understanding of the book. Children can use their ZPD and the outcome of their quiz to help them choose their next book. Our school librarians are also on hand to help guide children towards their next book choices.
How can you help your child at home?
- Listen to your child read every day at home.
- Encourage them to become more independent in their reading and spend some time reading independently.
- Take an interest in your child’s Accelerated Reader scores and their performance on quizzes.
- Make conversation about books a normal part of life in your home.
- Encourage trips to the library and literacy events to engage in wider range of interest in books.