English Reading
Intent
Our aim at Chapelfield is to teach every child to read as quickly as possible to provide them with a foundation to access learning throughout their educational journey and beyond. For our earliest readers, we use a structured, systematic and rigorous approach to teaching phonics, designed to create fluent readers and confident speakers and writers. We use Read Write Inc. consistently from Nursery through to Year 2 and if needed, beyond. Teachers have the skills, knowledge and confidence to deliver and assess phonics to a high standard. Following this, pupils engage in daily Guided Reading sessions aimed at further developing fluency and understanding. Our pupils are emersed in opportunities to read a range of non-fiction and fiction texts, including poetry, through our well-designed reading Spines. Our non-fiction offer is bespoken to our curriculum, ensuring opportunities to acquire knowledge and learn more about the world around them. Our fiction texts are selected based on our recognition that literature plays a key role in pupils’ cultural, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual development. We promote an appreciation of reading in the hope that our pupils will become life-long readers and work hard to promote ‘the love of reading.’
Implementation - how we teach Reading
KS1
See our phonics page for further details of our Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme Read Write Inc.
We also adopt a ‘Fab 5’ approach in KS1 where pupils are exposed to 5 texts daily which are selected from our Reading Spines. These can be seen in classroom displays.
KS2
We deliver whole class Guided Reading sessions daily for approximately 30 minutes. These sessions focus on fluency and understanding as opposed to the mechanics of reading. Our Guided Reading model follows a layered approach where pupils listen to high-quality text read by an adult at the start of the week. We teach pupils how to bring a text to life with the 6Ps (Pitch, Pause, Power, Passion, Pace and Punctuation) to develop reading fluency. We teach vocabulary in the context of the text through modelling and gestures. Retrieval and inference are a key focus in our Guided Reading sessions along with building up pupils’ evaluative skills. Each week, we also focus on 3 of the Reading Content Domains explicitly teaching higher level thinking and comprehension through our ‘Warm Application’. Pupils are presented with a ‘Cold Application’ exercise at the end of the week where pupils are given a link text (e.g. similar genre, similar structure, similar subject) and are presented with questions including question types which have been discretely taught throughout the week.
We also provide regular opportunities for pupils to read independently across our Reading Spines. We refer to these texts as ‘Bookflix’ and pupils keep a personal record of texts which they have read across their KS2 journey. One particular text will be read whole class in Class Novel time. Each class has a display of current ‘Bookflix’ texts.
Progression and Curriculum Map - what will my child learn?
At the heart of our reading curriculum is our reading spine which outlines the core bank of texts which pupils will be exposed to throughout their time at Chapelfield (for more detailed information, please click on the links below).
Reading Spine Foundation Stage
Reading Spine Year 1-2 A Cycle B
Reading Spine Year 1-2 B Cycle B
Reading Spine Year 2-3 Cycle B
Reading Spine Year 3-4 H Cycle B
Reading Spine Year 3-4 M Cycle B
Reading Spine Year 4-5 Cycle B
Reading Spine Year 5-6 H Cycle B
Reading Spine Year 5-6 P Cycle B
Assessment and Outcomes
Assessment for reading is an ongoing process where teachers are continually making judgments based on pupils’ oral responses in Guided Reading sessions. The ‘Cold Application’ task assesses pupils’ abilities to understand a text independently and answer questions. This is a useful tool to identify next steps. At the end of each half-term, pupils complete a Salford Reading Test and carry out an NFER Reading Assessment which alongside teacher assessment, is used to make a judgement of whether pupils are meeting National Expectational using the school’s assessment system, Sonar. (Below, Just At, At, Above).
Inclusion and Support
Whilst engaging in the Read Write Inc. programme, pupils are continually assessed and are targeted for 1:1 phonics support to ‘keep up’. If pupils enter KS2 and are not fluent readers, they receive 1:1 tuition which is carefully monitored by our Phonics Lead. This is continued for as long as deemed necessary, however in some instances, an alternative support package may be in place. We also hear our lowest 20% of pupils read daily.
Pupils with SEND maybe be withdrawn on occasions for Guided Reading sessions if they are unable to cope with the level of challenge or pace of whole class sessions. However, many of our SEND pupils can access whole class sessions with the support from the adults in the class.
EAL pupils who are new to country will engage in a bespoke 1:1 Read Write sessions. They are also supported using Racing to English Resources.
Subject Lead Contact
If you have any questions regarding the Reading curriculum please contact the school directly.
Contact: Mrs Macdonald (English Lead) at Chapelfield Primary School 01617235519 or via email on Chapelfield@bury.gov.uk
