We recognise that reading is key to learning. Therefore, we ensure that reading is a daily activity for children, whether it be independent reading, listening to adults read or peer reading. We want to instil a love of reading into all our children; the more children enjoy reading, the more likely they are going to want to read.
We believe that children should hear a range of quality stories and poems regularly so that they hear and internalise new vocabulary and its meaning. Therefore, we read to children daily. This will also allow for children to learn how to use expression and change their tone while reading, to make reading more engaging for the listener.
In EYFS and Key Stage 1, children receive daily phonics lessons. This supports the children through the different phases, so that the children are exposed to the different phonetical sounds, which becomes more complex until they are able to read phonetical words. All children will have a book that is linked to their phonic ability. Here are all the sounds the children will have learnt by the end of the phonics programme:
In Key Stage 2, phonics is still important, and children still need to remember all of the sounds they learnt in previous years. But we build on this knowledge in order to help children become more fluent readers.
We look at 5 areas to ensure that children are fluent readers:
- Expression
- Volume
- Phrasing
- Smoothness
- Pace
While children are building their confidence with fluency, we also teach children comprehension skills. We use the reading domains to ensure that children can understand a text in a range of ways.
