Intent
At Gerrans we believe that all children have the right to own what we believe is the ‘gift of reading’ because we know that reading is the gateway through which a child may travel in order to access a full and broad curriculum and thereby enjoy the wider world. Therefore, at Gerrans we aim to foster a life-long love of reading.
We recognise that a solid start at the very beginning of a child’s reading journey is of paramount importance. This is why we have chosen to use Read Write Inc (RWI) as the primary vehicle by which this can be achieved.
Staff at Gerrans are themselves readers. We believe that our own love of and passion for literature contributes to instilling a desire in children to want to read.
Implementation
Reading skills are taught so that children are able to decode, infer, predict, explain, retrieve, summarise and sequence information using high quality fiction and non-fiction texts that extend vocabulary, deepen language skills and maintain interest. Staff at Gerrans place high expectations on reading, both in school and at home. Children are expected to read at home at least four times a week but are encouraged to spend some time every day enjoying books. Currently, Gerrans School operates Reading Karate: a reading incentive designed to instil a love of reading through embedding reading routines at home.
Every day, all children from Reception to Year 2 receive hourly RWI lessons in small groups that are broadly homogenous. Each lesson comprises elements of explicit phonic teaching, word reading, book reading and comprehension, spelling and grammar, and writing. Children take home RWI scheme books to practise those skills learned at school.
RWI is taught in small groups according to the stage they are at. Every child is assessed half termly so that progress is monitored closely and in order that any gaps and misconceptions can be quickly identified and rectified.
In addition to this, more capable readers may also take home an additional phonic based reading book, sourced from several different published reading schemes. The aim of this is to maintain interest and develop reading fluency and stamina.
Once the RWI programme has been completed, older children are taught reading skills during daily reading sessions. A range of resources are used during these daily lessons. This year, we have introduced frequent 'Literary Leaves' reading sessions in both of our KS2 classes. Created by the website, Literacy Tree, Literary Leaves are book-based reading sessions based on whole texts with each session focusing on the National Curriculum programme of study.
High-quality planned interventions take place to ensure no child falls behind. Pupils in upper KS2 will have access to Fresh Start, a RWI ‘catch up’ intervention programme.
Opportunities for Reading for Pleasure.
All children at Gerrans are offered a wide range of literary experiences throughout the day, every day. This includes a poem(s) a day, daily shared reading, Read-Aloud from the class text, stories, collaborative reading and quiet individual reading time. In addition to this, children are invited to bring in and/or share their own favourite books as well as taking part in Reading Buddy Assemblies. The latter provides opportunities for all children to read and share books with children in small groups from a different age group (Nursery to Year 6). Staff regularly share and model their love of books, and children are encouraged to have some ownership of reading choice as a class and as individuals.
All children have many opportunities to use the recently re-modelled school library, both during the day as part of curriculum time or after school during library club. Each and every child is invited to borrow a library book, and a supervised library borrowing session is timetabled so that children are introduced to different genres and authors. Our school library was re-designed by the pupils and funded through community events. Pupils are very proud of the space and use it respectively. Families are invited to share books here together after school.
At Gerrans School we are always seeking new ways to further children’s love of reading. With this in mind, we endeavour to seek inspiration from outside agencies, groups and individuals. We regularly organise trips to and visits from local drama groups and performance venues (eg HFC, Minack Theatre etc), and enjoy experiences from local authors. Our own end of year production is a whole school collaboration and is based on Literary classics such as Shakespeare and Wind in the Willows for example.
Impact
Children will be able to:
- Decode words and a range of texts with confidence
- Demonstrate inference and deduction skills
- Analyse texts, develop and articulate opinions
- Notice patterns and similarities between authors
- Read with expression and empathy
- Be open to experiencing a range of genres and develop personal choice and preferences.
- Verbalise and exchange ideas, and be curious about new and unusual texts
- Gain a bank of knowledge of popular children’s authors and poets
- Make use of dictionaries and draw on phonic knowledge
- Make informed choices and be critical readers
- Develop discernment for what makes a book ‘a good read’
- Identify themselves as readers
It is our hope and expectation that by being immersed in an environment where a strong reading culture prevails, all children at Gerrans will become confident, capable, passionate readers and so become equipped to access a rich, diverse and full curriculum.