At Wilbury, we aim to promote an enthusiasm for reading from the moment your child enters the school. We firmly believe that every child deserves the chance to become a reader and we are determined to teach every child to read and to read well. We know that the children who enjoy reading are more likely to succeed academically so developing a positive attitude towards reading is our priority at Wilbury and this supported by a variety of teaching methods.

Our Phonics Programme

In the Summer Term of Nursery, children are introduced to Read Write Inc phonics programme and this builds on the previous input from letters and sounds. This programme runs through Reception and Year 1 and is designed to teach children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. The children learn to read the 40+ sounds and learn to blend these into words. From the very beginning children experience success.

All children are quickly grouped according to their levels and are assessed every six weeks by our trained Reading Leaders. Children who need extra support to meet national expectations are targeted quickly and picked up for additional support. Our aim is to get all the children confident with blending as quickly as possible so they are able to develop that love of reading from an early age. Regular Development Days led by RWI Consultants help to build teacher knowledge and confidence and keep us up-to-date with the latest thinking around the teaching of reading.

At Wilbury, we firmly believe that it is the teacher’s job to teach the children how to read but we ask our parent community to support their children with practising this skill at home. Pupils take home a book each week which mirrors the phonic teaching they have had during the week. This enables the pupil to practice their sounds and blending and build their self- confidence. We also hold regular and well- attended parent sessions to support our parents in their understanding of the programme and how they can best support their children at home.

All pupils in Reception and Year 1 access the RWI Programme and at the end of Year 1 all children will take the Phonics Screening Check. The Phonics Screening Check is taken individually by all children in Year 1 in England, and is usually taken in June. It is designed to give teachers and parents information on how children are progressing in phonics. It will help us as a school to identify whether your child needs additional support at this stage so that they do not fall behind in this vital early reading skill. There are two sections in this 40-word check and it assesses phonics skills and knowledge learned through Reception and Year 1.

Use the links to access  oxford Owls and for more information about the Phonics Screening Check

For children who are new to English and arrive in our school in Year 2 and for those who are yet to meet the standard, phonics continues in Year 2 with children getting support on a 1:1 basis in addition to their literacy lessons. In Key Stage 2 we also provide phonics lessons  for children new to English.

 

Reading beyond phonics in the Early Years

In the EYFS

Throughout Early Years adults spend time in reading areas/book corners, reading to children and sharing books with them – this encourages children to enjoy books and reading, and to use the areas independently. Books are available across the learning environment, linked to the relevant area of learning e.g. science books in the science area. Children are encouraged to retell familiar stories orally, and to make up their own.

Nursery

The children are read to daily and core books are introduced which are mainly big books. These are books with repetitive text and repeated refrains – books that lend themselves to choral reading) so that children can join in. The book is read several times over two weeks (whole class or groups), so that children become familiar with it. Props/puppets/small world toys etc. are available in the classroom  for children to use to retell the story independently. The book is available in the reading area for children to revisit/read independently.

Reception

As well as daily story time, individual weekly reading is introduced. This is supplemented  ‘shared reading’  – This will be a book that lends itself to choral reading – simple, repetitive text; repeated refrain; and where children can see the text. This is read to the children at carpet time at least three times over the week.

The aim is that by the final reading children are able to read/chant along at the pace of the teacher. Actions and different voices may be used, but no props/puppets etc. The book is available in the reading area for children to revisit/read independently.

The Power of Reading

This involves high quality diverse texts.  Each book is used over two or three weeks, building up as the story is slowly revealed. Experiences to support the story are planned using the ‘Power of Reading’ teaching sequence as a starting point, these include activities to stimulate talk and role play.  Carpet sessions are planned around each book, which lead to focused writing activities. Questioning is used to develop inference (‘wh’ questions) Many techniques are used to engage children – including using actions, different voices, props, puppets, role play and acting out the stories. Props/puppets/small world toys etc. are available in the classroom (preferably in the reading area) for children to use independently.

Purpose: develop love of stories, excitement, enthusiasm, comprehension, story structure, vocabulary, stimulate writing.

 

How home reading works at Wilbury:

Home reading is a chance to practice skills taught in school but also a chance to develop a love for reading and learn about a multitude of things that cannot be covered by a school curriculum.

Our two year olds, Ducklings (three year olds) and Nursery children choose a book every week  to take home and enjoy. In Reception, Year 1 and for any other child accessing RWI phonics programme a book that reflects their phonic ability is sent home each week giving them the opportunity to practise what they have been learning in class. In addition to this, all children take home a fiction or non fiction book from our class libraries for parents and children to share together.

Once children become free readers they will be guided by the teacher to choose a suitable book and all children will take home a book to help build their vocabulary. Our year 5 children take part in the Accelerated Reader Programme and select books based on their comprehension range. At the end of each book they take an online comprehension test.

All parents have the opportunity to fill in a Reading Record Book to let us know how your child is getting on with reading at home.

 

How reading is taught effectively in Year 1 to Year 6:

Fluency

Fluency, alongside decoding and comprehension, is one of the major pillars of reading instruction. Fluency refers to the rate, expression, and smoothness with which a student is able to read. Fluency is more than just reading quickly, though pacing is a part of it. Fluent readers read as though they are talking. They attend to punctuation, use different voices to represent characters in dialogue, and change their tone and pace to reflect the mood or register of what they are reading.

Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they are speaking. Readers who have not yet developed fluency read slowly, word by word. Their oral reading is choppy.

In Year 1 a book is used to develop fluency skills and in years 2-6 children have their own copy of a text which may be fiction, non-fiction or poetry. The children are taught how to track the text and to read with pace and accuracy. Vocabulary is explored and children are all encouraged to become actively involved in the session.

Reading lessons – domain driven

Midway through the week the children are taught how to build upon their comprehension skills. Using the text they have become familiar with they are introduced to a different styles of questions and how best to answer them. Children are encouraged to become more independent and demonstrate their skills. Teachers are on the look –out for any misconceptions and are ready to deal with these in a timely manner.

Reading Interventions

Every child deserves to be a reader and at Wilbury we have several reading intervention programmes running to support the children achieve this goal.

Lunch time reading EYFS and KS1:

This is a teacher intervention and aimed at children needing a little extra support to reach national expectations with regards to reading comprehension. They read as a group with the teacher up to four times a week..

TA 1:1 reading

This is a TA lead interventions and is aimed at children who would benefit from daily one to one reading with an adult to build up their fluency. Up to 4 children are selected from every class in the school and they read on a daily basis with the TA.

Developing Reading for Pleasure

Reading is the passport to the world. Reading for pleasure gives children opportunities to learn about a multitude of things that cannot be covered by a school curriculum. At Wilbury, we are always looking for ways to enrich the reading experience for the pupils. Every class teacher is expected to read a class book on a daily basis to the children and high quality diverse texts are shared in regular reading assemblies. Children also have access to our two libraries in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

We welcome in authors and encourage the children to get fully involved in World Book Day as well as the National Summer Reading Challenge. Our latest initiative is having a regular second hand book stall where children and parents can take home  ‘much loved books’ donated by our community.We do not charge because we recognise the importance of children owning their own books, and accessing as many books as possible in their homes.

Click here to view the Autumn 2023 Writing Curriculum Overview

Click here to view the Spring 2024 Writing Curriculum Overview

Click here to view the Summer 2024 Writing Curriculum Overview

Our aim is always to encourage all children to write to the best of their ability and to enjoy the writing process.

This starts with them understanding the purpose of their writing and the audience they are writing for. As teachers it is our job to find exciting hooks into writing. Over a period of time we want to increase the quantity and quality of what has been written. These benchmarks will differ for each child in the classroom and that’s where our teacher knowledge is key. The ability to write coherently and accurately is key for all writers. Writing is a complex skill, and we take the time to ensure that a strong understanding of sentence structure and punctuation runs through our teaching and experience of writing lessons from Early Years to Year 6.

Writing is taught through units linked to a text. The Literacy Curriculum ensures that high quality texts are used for every age group. The texts available to each year group are a range of picture books, longer stories, poems and non-fiction. Teachers carefully choose texts that will promote writing and oracy progress, and of course enjoyment of reading and writing. Each text and its linked unit of work will lead to several outcomes, giving children the chance to explore the structure and language of different text types (for example, descriptions, diary writing, newspapers, narrative in different forms, explanation and debate).

All units are approached in the same way:

• The Literacy Curriculum provides a wide range of high quality texts to choose from for each year group. Teachers choose the texts, ensuring a range of text types and topics across the year.
• Lessons include shared reading of the text and explicit teaching of skills for writing and speaking. The writing pieces are inspired by and linked to the text.
• To support their progress in writing, teachers supply children with pre-written WAGOLLs (What A Good One Looks Like) as a model for their own writing. Before writing independently, the class will rehearse the writing, led by the teacher in ‘shared writing’.
• There are several written outcomes for each unit: some are smaller ‘instant publishing’ written pieces completed within one lesson and at least one piece of writing will be longer, planned and written over several lessons.
• Every lesson adds to the skills and knowledge needed to achieve as an accomplished writer: this includes choosing the correct voice and style to write in, developing a variety of sentence structures, and using an increasing range of punctuation to accurately convey meaning.  

Marking

All marking aims to move the learning on. The teacher will highlight the objective in green if it has been achieved and a few examples where this is evident in the writing.
Areas that need more attention are highlighted in orange and these may relate to grammar, spelling or composition. Editing and conferencing with the teacher helps the children to improve the quality of their writing and work on the areas requiring more attention.

 

SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar):

Years Reception to year 2, follow the spelling programme in RWI.

Further year groups focus on a weekly set of spellings with a pattern or theme. These words are tested weekly.

Punctuation and grammar are part of every lesson. Teachers ensure that new punctuation and grammar knowledge are taught, as well as revisiting and embedding previous knowledge. An age appropriate level of sentence structure and use of punctuation is the expectation in every piece of writing.

Children are taught a cursive style of handwriting, which is practised and reinforced continuously and consistently.