“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr. Seuss, Children’s Author
Supporting children to develop good language and literacy skills underpins educational success in all areas of the curriculum as well as building future achievement and rewarding lives.
By the time children leave Wilberforce Primary we want our children to be competent readers who can recommend books to their peers, have a thirst for reading a range of genres including poetry and participate in discussions about books including evaluating an author’s use of language and the impact this can have on the reader.
Overall, it is our aim to promote a real love of reading which will ensure that they continue to be life-long learners.
We have developed an ambitious curriculum that starts from the EYFS to Year 6. Texts chosen are high quality and build on children’s language and reading skills. In EYFS and KS1 we place a strong emphasis on the teaching of phonics, so children quickly become fluent readers. As they progress through the school, we also develop comprehension knowledge so children leave use able to read and comprehend fluently.
In EYFS we share stories with children daily and develop a love of reading – we encourage them to retell and role-play their favourite stories. Children will be exposed to a range of texts – from traditional tales to nursery rhymes and this support their oracy.
In KS1 they continue to read and hear and read a range of texts which become more challenging. They receive daily phonics sessions, participate in comprehension sessions and read across the curriculum.
By the time pupils enter KS2 we expect them to have mastered phonics and will focus on developing their comprehension skills. The school has carefully designed a sequential reading curriculum which exposes children to texts which increase in difficulty as they progress through the school.
All children are read to at the end of the day for story time, this consists of carefully chosen texts which leaders have chosen to expose children to a wider range of literature which includes diverse authors.
We are fortunate to have a well-stocked library which children visit regularly to choose a book to read for pleasure.
If your child is learning through the Little Wandle phonics scheme, they will bring home two types of reading book: a reading practice book and a sharing book. The reading practice book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading. Listen to them read the book and remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together. Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters and explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun! If your child gets stuck, a great prompt to use is: 'Say the sounds (pointing to each of the ‘sounds’ in the word) and read the word' (slide your finger along, under the whole word).
As a research-informed school, we have developed our own reading curriculum based on the ‘Power of Reading’ scheme. Our reading curriculum puts quality children’s literature at the heart of literacy learning and is built on years of research and best practice. Using high quality texts to teach reading, we help children to acquire a wide vocabulary, appreciate a rich literary heritage, explain their understanding clearly and develop the habit of reading widely. Our whole class approach to teaching reading means that all pupils read with the teacher, access more challenging texts and benefit from the teacher’s expert explanations, modelling, questioning and feedback.
United Learning comprises: United Learning Ltd (Registered in England No: 00018582. Charity No. 313999) UCST (Registered in England No: 2780748. Charity No. 1016538) and ULT (Registered in England No. 4439859. An Exempt Charity). Companies limited by guarantee. Registered address: United Learning, Worldwide House, Thorpe Wood, Peterborough, PE3 6SB.
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