Reading
Key Documentation:
Year 3 Autumn Term Reading List
Year 3 Spring Term Reading List
Year 3 Summer Term Reading List
Year 4 Autumn Term Reading List
Year 4 Spring Term Reading List
Year 4 Summer Term Reading List
Year 5 Autumn Term Reading List
Year 5 Spring Term Reading
Year 5 Summer Term Reading List
Year 6 Autumn Term Reading List
Year 6 Spring Term Reading List
Year 6 Summer Term Reading List
RECOMMENDED READS
THE PHILOSOPHY OF READING AT REIGATE PRIORY:
Reading is right at the very heart of our curriculum and we believe that every child at Reigate Priory should access the highest quality texts to promote their love of reading, ability of reading and application of reading skills now and in their future.
The skills that pupils acquire during this time are essential life skills. Our aim is to give pupils the skills necessary to read confidently, accurately and for enjoyment; enabling them to participate fully as a member of society.
We recognise the importance of reading for present day living and learning. A subject underpins all aspects of school life and the curriculum.
At Reigate Priory, we aim to foster in the pupils a love of reading and respect for books, by providing them with stimulating resources and opportunities and modelling, as adults, a positive image of reading.
Our Reading Policy at Reigate Priory School outlines our values and philosophy in educating pupils to the highest standards and ensures consistency and clear expectations across the school. The Reading Leader and SLT (Senior Leadership Team) are responsible for the Reading Policy in school and providing support for staff to achieve its aims. All members of staff are responsible for furthering our aims and helping the school community in every way possible to achieve this.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
The teaching and ethos behind Reading should develop learners as enthusiastic and proficient readers, who can:
- Use a range of strategies, including accurate decoding of text, to read for meaning.
- Understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text.
- Deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts.
- Identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level.
- Explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level.
- Identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader.
- Understand and discuss themes and genres within and across texts.
In addition to the above assessment focuses, our primary aim is to create an atmosphere in which reading is viewed as being enjoyable and worthwhile, with staff acting as positive role models throughout the learning journey.
Subject Leader - Mr D. Welch
CURRICULUM PLANNING, LEARNING AND TEACHING
Each year group uses assessment, tracking to inform their planning, and teaching of reading. Reading is an integral part of the whole curriculum and opportunities to develop skills in this area are utilised in a range of lessons in addition to specific reading sessions.
Throughout the school, four reading lessons are taught per week either as whole class reading or discrete comprehension lessons. In whole class reading sessions the class will study a specific text accompanied by a range of activities linked to the content domains of reading. It is important that teachers model the skills of reading throughout the lesson. This is complemented by two sessions focused on explicit comprehension practise based on the same text or related to it.
Each week pupils also access twenty minutes of independent reading. This is an opportunity for pupils to increase their stamina when reading independently over a sustained period, read and discuss texts with partners and for teachers to listen to pupils read. Each child is given a Reading Record and asked to complete weekly reading comments to document their independent reading.
During the immersions stage of writing, reading is taught by engaging pupils in a high quality text linked to what they will be writing, and accompanied by various activities to promote an understanding and engagement in what they have read.
Within all lessons across the curriculum, there are incidental and discreetly planned opportunities for our pupils to read where they will encounter new subject-specific and technical vocabulary related to their learning. Pupils are encouraged to aloud in all subjects.
Class Story time is an important part of our school day. Teachers read to their class for 10 minutes in a dedicated slot. The book is usually selected to support the reading lessons. Alternatively, texts are selected by teachers to demonstrate their love of reading. Teachers model their understanding of language and inference as they read by thinking aloud.
Each year, a variety of enrichment activities occur to develop pupils’ reading aloud and love of reading. World Book Day is a significant event in which child are immersed in purely reading and discussion throughout the day with many opportunities to read aloud. Successtival enables pupils to reflect on their writing and to read aloud to different audiences. Further events include Scholastic Book Fairs and Author’s visits further encourage pupils’ love of reading.
ASSESSMENT AND MONITORING
Teachers assess pupils daily in their lessons through Assessment for Learning in the form of self and peer assessment. The formal recording of learners’ progress takes place on Target Tracker. This is referred to throughout the year as an ongoing assessment tool.
At the end of each term, each class teacher will make an assessment based on a collection of each child’s work, which will be followed by year group moderation. This information is stored on the school’s Target Tracker system, which teachers will use to analyse the progress of their pupils and respond accordingly.
Every child coming into the school assessed by PM Benchmark to determine their reading level. Pupils are told which Reading Book colour to take from the library. Pupils who need to be read with more frequently or require intervention are identified through further assessments such as Read Write Inc. Subsequent, regular PM assessments are used to determine whether a child’s decoding and comprehension skills are developed sufficiently to move onto the next level.
At the end of each year, pupils are given an NFER test, which assesses them in a variety of reading skills. This data is stored centrally on the network for monitoring and used to inform planning for the subsequent year.
Pupils who join Reigate Priory School having not passed the KS1 phonics screening, are assessed as working towards, are assessed below PM benchmark level 22 or are raised as a concern by their class teacher are assessed under Read Write Inc. These assessments take place half-termly and are analysed to ensure pupils receive phonics support at the correct level with a view to making rapid progress in their blending, phonic knowledge and reading speed.
PM Benchmarking and Book Bands
HOME READING
Reigate Priory School manages a comprehensive lending library supported by Libresoft library management software. Pupils borrow two books simultaneously: one matched to their reading ability and one that they select based on their interests.
Reading Book – Colour banded books
Pupils’ home readers are pitched to accurately match their ability by PM Benchmark assessments. Pupils may then select books from their designated colour that they can enjoy but also challenge. Termly assessments ensure that pupils regularly have the opportunity to make progress with their reading ability and give pupils the opportunity to access texts that are more complex. Pupils working below ARE are assessed half-termly which enables them additional opportunities to catch up and additional feedback for teachers and parents to support the child’s learning. The colour-band book selection is ample and has been updated with a range of high quality texts to suit all readers. The selection covers a diverse spread of topics, both fiction and non- fiction, thus ensuring our commitment to inclusion and representation.
Reading books are replaced weekly. Many of the books contain activities and questions to discuss.
Our expectation is that these books are read nightly with the outcome being recorded in the Reading Record. In school, these are the books that a child will be heard read by an adult.
Read Write Inc. Phonics Book Bag Books
Pupils receiving phonics support use ‘Book Bag Books’ instead of colour band reading books. These books are matched to the sounds they are learning in school and designed to reinforce this knowledge. Book Bag Books are replaced weekly and are re-read many times throughout the week to develop fluency, expression, stamina and retrieval skills in reading.
Library Book – Black/White label books and non-fiction
In addition to Reading Books, all Reigate Priory pupils also have access to black/white label (fiction) and non-fiction books to be borrowed and enjoyed at home. Pupils may select any title that captures their interest. Pupils select library books based on their interests, what appeals to them and recommendations from the Reigate Priory community. We do not place limits on the books that a child may select. Free selection promotes freedom, responsibility and love of reading, similar to a bookshop or traditional library. We have made considerable investments to ensure our pupils have access to a wide range of texts that reflect our commitment to inclusion and representation.