English

Reading 

 Quality First Teaching

At Linton Mead every child’s reading journey begins with an inspiring, high-quality text. We use beautiful picture books, classic novels, contemporary fiction, poetry and film to spark imagination and a lifelong love of literature.

Within our reading learning journeys, you can expect to see:

• High-Quality texts: Books that challenge inspire and reflect our diverse world.
• Big Questions: Thought provoking prompts that encourage children to think deeply.
• Think Alouds: Teachers sharing their own thought processes to show children how good readers think.
• Shared and Independent Reading: A balance of reading together as a class and building the stamina to read independently.
• Discussions and Debates: Opportunities for children to share opinions, challenge ideas and express themselves.
• Vocabulary Wealth: Exploring language, word choices and the author’s hidden meaning.

Early Years Foundation Stages (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 (KS1)

In EYFS, we focus on unlocking the mechanics of reading. We teach word recognition and decoding using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds program, you can read more about this in our Phonics and Early Reading Policy.

Alongside phonics children are immersed in the joy of storytelling. Through group discussions, choral reading (reading aloud together( and Think Alouds we bring books to life and nurture a genuine love of reading,

Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4)

As children move into Years 3 and 4, we focus on building reading fluency, accuracy and prosody. Children take part in three dedicated fluency sessions a week using the Little Wandle Fluency Program.

Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6)

In Years 5 and 6 three lessons are week are dedicated to Reading. Children are encouraged to become critical thinkers. Our older children spend time analyzing texts, identifying an author’s technique, exploring viewpoints and using evidence to support their ideas. We introduce ‘link texts’ (paired articles, extracts or poems) to broaden their worldview.

Reading for Enjoyment

We believe that fluent readers are made when children love what they read. Teachers read aloud to their classes every single day, modelling how to read with expression, intonation and passion.

Digging Deeper through Discussion

We want our children to understand the texts they are reading so they can discuss, share ideas and debate differing opinions and ideas. Teachers use ‘Think Alouds’ to show children how to navigate tricky parts of a text. We also use these moments to build background knowledge, ensuring no child is left behind because of a lack of prior life experience. Our teachers use ‘think alouds’ to model the various skills it takes to understand a text. This technique models the thought process we go through as readers to understand a text.

Reading across the Curriculum

Reading does not stop at the end of the English lesson. Whether the children are researching the Romans in History or exploring ecosystems in Science, children continue to develop and practice their skills. This exposes them to a wide range of technical, subject-specific vocabulary.

School Library

All children in N-Y6 visit our school library that offers a wealth of resources; dyslexia friendly books, a wide-range of non-fiction texts, audio books, picture books, graphic novels and a wide range of fictional texts.

Each year group visits the library at least once a week, where they are invited to spend time reading, browse books and take out a book to share at home. During this time, our teachers and support staff engage in conversations with the children about reading to ensure they are choosing suitable texts for their reading ability.

Reading Journals

All children from N-Y6 are provided with a reading record book to be used in and out of school. This can be used by Parents, School staff and the children to record books that have been read by the children. These will be checked regularly by teachers to encourage children to read daily at home.

For children who may not have the opportunity to read at home and those who find reading challenging they will be regularly heard to read with an adult in school.

Reader of the Week

Each week our class teachers nominate a child for ‘reader of the week’ by demonstrating some of the following reading behaviours:

• Reading every day and recording their progress in their reading journals.
• Working hard to develop their phonic knowledge for reading.
• Using their phonic knowledge to attempt unfamiliar words.
• Showing a positive attitude to reading.
• Making book recommendations to others.
• Making great predictions and then reflecting on their predictions.
• Commenting on the characters feelings and emotions.
• Handling books appropriately.
• Discussing key events/plots of a story.
• Reading a wide range of genres.

Certificates are awarded to one child in every class during our Friday celebration assemblies. The children take their certificate home for their parents/carers to comment on and then return the certificate back to school, so that it can be proudly displayed on the ‘Reader of the Week’ tree at the front of the school.

Reading Curriculum Overview