Wynndale Reading Policy

At Wynndale Primary School we recognise that reading, writing, speaking and listening are significant life skills which are of central importance to a child’s learning and development.

Our aim at Wynndale is to:

Explore by immersing children in the world of books

Inspire by ensuring our learners have a lifelong love of books as readers and writers

Spark by igniting creative ideas so that we become authors and book analysts

Deepen by developing children’s understanding of how authors make choices that impact readers

Reading

Reading is one of the most important things that children will learn at school. Our aim is for every child to be able to Learn to Read as well as being able to Read to Learn. This means they will be confident and fluent readers who have learnt to read by the end of KS1 and be starting to read to learn by gaining knowledge in other subjects through reading.

The Teaching of Phonics

We implement a structured, systematic approach to teaching phonics, using the Rocket Phonics programme. Lessons will follow a clear sequence of sound-letter relationships, phoneme blending and segmenting, and high-frequency word recognition. Teachers will be trained to deliver phonics lessons consistently, ensuring all pupils are taught the same content sequentially. This approach ensures that every child builds their reading skills cumulatively, with no gaps in their understanding.

Phonics lessons will be delivered daily, following the Rocket Phonics scheme of work to ensure systematic and consistent learning. The children will develop strong phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and blending skills. adhering to the sequence outlined in the scheme. Each classroom will have a phonics display that is built up over time, including sound charts, letter patterns, and tricky words, to support children in their reading and writing. - Tricky words will be integrated throughout, ensuring pupils can recognise and use high-frequency words that do not follow typical phonetic rules

Phonics learning will not just be confined to dedicated phonics lessons but will be integrated throughout the curriculum. Teachers will consciously apply phonics teaching in all areas of learning, from literacy to subjects like mathematics and science, ensuring that pupils are using their phonetic skills to decode and understand new vocabulary. This cross-curricular approach will reinforce and extend the phonics knowledge acquired in the main phonics lessons, allowing children to apply their reading and spelling skills in a variety of contexts. By embedding phonics across all subjects, pupils will see the practical use of phonics in real-life situations and further solidify their understanding.

Assessment of Phonics

Regular, formative assessments will be used to monitor pupil progress and identify those who are at risk of falling behind. These assessments will guide further learning in the classroom and allow teachers to provide targeted interventions. Children who require additional support will have immediate interventions, either in small groups or on a one-to-one basis. Progress will be monitored continually, with adjustments made to groups and lesson plans based on individual needs. For children who require even more support, smaller, more frequent sessions will be offered, with an emphasis on building their confidence and initial blending skills.

The Teaching of Reading

Children in Foundation and Y1 will read with their class teacher,1:1, in small groups and as a class, where they will learn further reading skills and how to find meaning from a text. Children will be heard read by a trained member of staff at least once a week and their phonically decodable book will be changed by the adult twice a week. Communications after reading will be put in reading diaries so parents and family members are aware of the child’s individual next steps. Children may be heard read additionally by Key Stage 2 readers or community volunteers, both of which have received training from the Subject Leaders.

On entry to Year 2 children continue to be heard read on a 1:1 basis or in a small group. As they progress with their reading skills the small group will take the form of Guided Reading. The children will read the same text and look at both the teaching of reading skills and early comprehension strategies. Towards the end of the Autumn Term the more able readers will progress to a Novel Study approach.

In Year 2 from Spring Term through to Year 6, children have Novel Study lessons 4 to 5 times a week. These focus primarily on the understanding of a text. Children are taught how to make predictions, clarify words, answer retrieval and inference questions, and summarise what they have been reading. We use reading VIPERS (vocabulary, infer, predict, explain, retrieve, sequence or summarise) to support this teaching and ensure a consistent approach across school. We explore the author’s use of vocabulary and its impact on the reader. The teaching of vocabulary is high profile within novel study and forms a part of every lesson. High quality texts have been selected for the teaching of Novel Study and teachers will refer to earlier texts to allow children to make links.

Within these year groups, adults will read 1:1 with any children where it is necessary to increase fluency as well as to diagnose and target individual reading difficulties.

Children in Year 2 – 4 will also have a reading diary as a form of communication between families and staff members to support the teaching of reading. 

Assessment of Reading

Children’s phonic assessments are used to ensure they are accessing phonically decodable books which are accurately matched to their reading ability. Once children have progressed onto books within the coloured book bands, then PM Benchmarking tools are used to inform teacher judgement and support the accurate process of moving children from one colour book band to the next.

Each term we use the Testbase Assessments to provide accurate summative assessments of the children’s reading ability, both their mechanics of reading and their comprehension and understanding. We use this alongside Sonar Juniper formative statements to arrive at an accurate judgement.

Supporting our lower readers

Using our assessment tools, children who are found to be not meeting age related expectations are quickly identified and support is put in place. This will be in discussion with the class teacher, Subject Leader and SENCO. Strategies will include phonic intervention groups, extra 1:1 teaching of reading, small comprehension groups and support for parents to work in partnership.

A Love of Reading    

One of our other aims is for all children to have a love of reading and to want to read for themselves, so at Wynndale Primary School we encourage reading for pleasure.

We have made a commitment that at 3:10 every day children will come together as a class and share a book through reading aloud. This is fondly known as STAR reading time (Sit together and read). To differentiate this from novel study, teachers will aim to create a special environment within the classroom which may include lighting, music, blankets and cushions.

Children at Wynndale will also have the opportunity to read aloud themselves in shared reading time. Once a month, two different year groups will meet together, children will be paired to read aloud to each other, using the behaviours which they have seen modelled to them in STAR reading time.

Every classroom has a reading area with a range of children’s books for them to read at their leisure. We aim to make reading areas exciting and memorable places to go and read.

At Wynndale we endeavour to create a culture of being a reading community. We encourage all adults in school to be viewed as readers, for example, every adult displays the title of the book they are personally reading for pleasure, whole school displays, bookfairs and our seasonal book exchange. We celebrate reading through participating in National events and regular initiatives such as Book Lovers tea parties and Reading Bears. We aim to widen our reading community beyond our school grounds through our hidden book scheme.

Through this, by the time our children leave us, they will have experienced a wide range of quality texts. We are able to ensure this happens through our bespoke reading spines for each year group which plans out some of the books that are included in our STAR reading time, writing sequence, novel study and reading for pleasure texts. All of these are updated frequently to meet the needs of the children and published on our website.