Reading

At Saint Patrick’s we approach reading in 3 strands: Quality first teaching, no one left behind and developing a love of reading.

Quality First Teaching

Early Reading is built on phonics, please see our phonics page for more information about how we develop this.

In main school, year 1-6, we choose high quality texts for each class to study and use a shared reading approach. We share a text as a class, discussing the vocabulary, the effect, the underlying subtext and really dissect the text. We have 2 adults in our reading lessons so we can work in smaller groups and the children get lots of exposure to high quality language and a really in-depth discussions. If you’d like to read more about our text section please see here:

Reading Texts Selection Across School

We use our 14 reading skills to structure our questions from year 1 to year 6 so children become familiar with how to tackle a text and how to structure their responses. These are our reading skills:

No one Left Behind! – Interventions

Whilst undertaking our reading lessons, we assess the children carefully and react swiftly to give children extra support and interventions to help them make progress in line with their peers and be able to move forward. We have a range of reading interventions such as: toe-by-toe, 60-second read groups, Inference Intervention group and 1:1 reading with adults. As reading is the key to all areas we make it our mission to do all we can to ensure children make progress in reading. If you’d like to learn more about our intentions please follow the links below:

Toe-by-toe

60 Second Reading Intervention

Inference Intervention 

A Love of Reading

Teaching reading is important but loving reading is more important. Children need to want to read and we do lots of things to encourage our children to love their reading.

A super-packed library with up-to-date texts with lots of cosy places to snuggle up with a good book.

Each class recommends a book each week for the other children to enjoy.

Each week we have a staff member recommend a reading book.

Teachers read to children every day – even in KS2 it’s so important that children hear adults read with passion and enthusiasm as a great model.

Every class have a weekly library slot to swap their books and enjoy some dedicated time to just enjoy books!

Every half term each class has a text which is celebrated and shared.

Daily lunchtime library sessions for children to choose to join in.

Book Boats on the KS 1 playground for children to sail away to wherever their books may take them…

Daily News reading to read a different style of text and also see a real-life purpose for reading in developing their knowledge of the world

Reading areas in EYFS and KS1 classrooms.

Community book swap for staff and parents to exchange and share books.

Reading Story Suitcases to share a story in EYFS and KS 1 as a family with hot chocolate and biscuits!

Reading Books

We encourage children to read 4 times a week at home and we give children access to quality texts from the moment the join our school to ensure that even at the age of 3 they are beginning to develop book awareness. Learning to turn the pages, hold the book the right way up, know that print is read from left to right are all skills that we need to teach our children. When children first enter nursery they will have access to wordless picture books to help foster these skills. Here are some tips on how to share a wordless picture book.

Children will then move onto simple picture books, please read these with your children, they won’t be able to read them yet but listening to you read will help them develop their language and story telling skills.

Once the nursery children have learnt a range of phonics sounds they will begin to bring home blends books, too. These books are for the children to practise their phonics skills and blend sounds to make words. For more advise on phonics please see our phonics page.

Children from reception to year 2 will bring home books matched to their phonics learning. These books the children will be able to read to you and you can talk to your child about the story.

In KS2, we use reading assessments to ensure we have the right level for your child to practice reading at home.

At home, no matter what age please don’t underestimate the importance of reading other stories at home to your child. Sharing a book at home with an adult teaches vocabulary and language, curiosity about stores, the excitement of accessing a text they can’t yet read independently and the special memories of snuggling up and sharing a book with an adult at home fosters a love of reading like no other.