Reading

At Marsh Lane we fully believe reading can open opportunities which is why it is our aim for all children to be confident, lifelong readers.

Daily phonics ensures that the foundations of fluent reading are laid. Texts are carefully matched in EYFS and KS1 to the phase that children are currently learning. We have recently extended our reading materials in school to accommodate the 'Reading Bug' texts, alongside Oxford Reading Tree and other banded books. 

As children become more confident readers, shared and guided reading lessons are taught. In shared reading, teachers explicitly teach and model reading skills to expose all children to a range of challenging texts and to encourage discussion and debate. In guided reading, children access texts appropriate for their reading level in smaller groups.

Children take weekly books home to read with parents, appropriate to their reading level. When they are confident readers, they are encouraged to choose a library book and develop their own reading interests. Similarly to how reading is at the heart of our curriculum, our small but effective school library has been recently developed and is physically situated in the heart of our school. Children visit the library weekly to explore new authors and texts.

We acknowledge the importance of sharing stories with children at all ages. Stories are read for pleasure to the children, so that they enjoy the fun and experience the magic that a text can bring into the classroom,

All of our children participate in a reading race challenge, where they can visibly see the rewards of their regular reading, both at school and at home.

We have produced a reading booklet with some simple tips on sharing books with your children at home.

Shared and Guided Reading

Intent
Throughout Key Stages 1 and 2, our shared and guided reading sessions balance the teaching of reading between word reading, wider decoding skills, grammar for reading, wider comprehension strategies and response to text in order to develop fluent readers who understand what they are reading. Comprehension is taught from an early age to prevent
comprehension difficulties arising as the language demand of the texts they encounter increases. We believe that it is important that children read for meaning because not only does a lack of comprehension create a barrier to educational attainment but also because better comprehenders are more likely to be motivated readers.

Implementation

Shared and guided reading are taught routinely and effectively using a linked approach whereby a key skill focus is modelled by the teacher in shared reading which is then practised by the children in a series of subsequent guided reading sessions. In whole class shared reading, a rich, challenging text is used by the teacher to explicitly model the key skill that will be focussed upon. Children are then given the opportunity to apply the skill in pairs, discussing their application of the strategy. In group guided reading, the teacher works with each ability group in turn, reiterating the taught focus, listening to each child independently read a text at instructional level and assisting them in applying the focus. Oracy is a key element of our guided sessions as the children reflect upon their progress towards the key objective and respond to directed questions, to assess their understanding. 

Both shared and guided reading sessions include a wider strategy check to ensure that children continue to apply the full range of strategies as they read; when introducing the text
children are also given a few minute to clarify vocabulary in context.

The key skills focussed on in these sessions cover the objectives set out in the National Curriculum as well as the strategies that evidence based educational research has found make a good reader. Our progression planning clarifies precisely what level each of the key skills should be taught at in each year group and are used to ensure that an appropriate pitch and expectation in reading is being planned for. Furthermore, progression is ensured through the strategic planning of reading across the school.

Progression is also ensured through the pitch of texts used for shared and guided reading. Our books banding has been carefully planned to use texts at suitable levels for each year group, along with carefully selected guided text materials. The age related expectations for book levels is set out in the aforementioned progression statements. Where possible, we use whole texts for both shared and guided reading, aiming for a balance of fiction and non-fiction and use of a wide range of text types.The texts used for the shared sessions are familiar to the children because they are the class read aloud text or are linked to their thematic work.

Impact

When our pupils leave Marsh Lane Primary School, we aim for them to have a love and enjoyment of reading books with confidence. We want them to be competent readers, who can select a variety of genres for purpose and personal enjoyment. They will be able to talk about a range of their favourite authors and also articulate their likes and dislikes of texts they have shared. They can evaluate the authors use of vocabulary and the impact that this has upon the reader. They can also read books which help and support the development of their subject knowledge across the curriculum and communicate their research to a wider audience.

Reading Booklet Advice for Parents