Thornham St James C.E. Primary School
At Thornham St James, we are readers! We love books and the pleasure and knowledge reading gives us.
Children will embody our school motto of ‘Journeying Together, We Shine’ alongside our Christian Values and Curriculum Drivers in their approach to reading; celebrating the opportunities reading a variety of texts, comprehend a variety text and being able to discuss different topics that may be present in a book provides them with.
The reading curriculum has been carefully designed so that all our pupils develop their word reading and comprehension knowledge and understanding to support not only fluent and confident readers but also confident speakers and writers also. Pupils are encouraged to read a wide range of text in all year groups from Reception through to Year 6 to help develop cultural knowledge and respect. We want all our pupils to leave primary school with a love of reading and to remember their learning in reading.
Our reading curriculum follows the National Curriculum and is focused upon the development of pupils’ reading within two aspects - word reading and comprehension (both listening and reading). Within word reading, we aim to develop fluent pronunciation of both familiar and unfamiliar words through children’s secure knowledge and understanding that the letters on a page represent the sounds in spoken words. This is why we emphasise phonics in the early teaching of reading in both EYFS and Key Stage 1. Successful comprehension draws from children’s linguistic knowledge (in particular vocabulary and grammar) and on their knowledge of the world. We seek to develop comprehension skills through pupils’ exposure to a wide variety of engaging stories, poetry and non-fiction texts and children taking part in high quality classroom discussions about the texts they are reading.
The reading curriculum is progressively sequenced to ensure that pupils gain recognition of the key foundational knowledge and concepts. This supports pupils to become fluent readers and embed the strategies required for effective comprehension of texts. Through high quality discussions, pupils are able to articulate key ideas, consolidate understanding and extend their vocabulary thus developing inference skills.
Reading Implementation
At Thornham St James, we endeavour to ensure children are excited about reading and that there is a ‘reading for pleasure’ ethos across the whole school. We do this through making sure that each year group are reading a range of high-quality texts; these texts are both their class novel study, which is used for the teaching of reading and their Drop Everything and Read book, which is a book solely used to promote the love of reading.
In EYFS and Key Stage One, reading is taught through daily Little Wandle phonics lessons. Children are taught that the letters of the alphabet represent a different sound, that these can be used in a variety of combinations and are put together to make words. The children learn to recognise all of the different sounds and combinations that they might see when they are reading or writing. Our phonics teaching follows a very specific sequence that allows our children to build on their previous phonic knowledge and master specific phonic strategies as they move through school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words that they might discover. At Thornham St James, we also model these strategies in shared reading and writing both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum.
As children progress through school, they take part in class novel study lessons, comprehension lessons and accelerated reader sessions. Class novel studies form the majority of lessons. The text for a class novel lesson have been selected be more challenging than a pupil might be able to understand independently because the teacher is there to support comprehension, explaining the meaning of words and phrases or elaborating on key ideas.
Class novel studies begin by looking at the front cover and blurb of the book and then using this information, children make predictions on what they think the book is going to be about etc. They also find out about the author and illustrator. Teacher may also present background knowledge to the children as the more a reader knows about the topic, the easier it is for them to integrate new information from the text and build a mental model. Children will explore connections between the text and themselves, the text and other texts they may have read and the text to the knowledge they have of the world.
Teachers then work with our highly skilled subject co-ordinator to carefully plan a sequence of lessons based on the class novel ensuring that all necessary aspects from the national curriculum are covered. Each lesson follows a step-by-step process based on guidance set out by the EEF and the Reading Framework; it should be noted that this a process and not a tick list for a successful lesson.
Step 1 – Flashback
Pupils complete a short, pacey activity planned by the class teacher that requires them to flashback to something they have already been taught giving teachers the opportunity to ensure this learning id secure children’s long-term memory.
Step 2 – Anchor
This step is another quick task linked to something that has previously happened in the current class novel to support children in getting back into their learning.
Step 3 – Prediction
Children make predictions about what they think is going to happen next in their class novel based on what they have already read and also their understanding of stories.
Step 4 – Read
During this part of the lesson, children listen to the class teacher read a section of the book and follow along. It is important that the reading done here is by the adult as this means that pupils get to hear the story being read with fluency and expression which gives them an overall better comprehension of the text. There will be other times throughout the day/week for children to read aloud.
Step 5 – Clarify/Vocabulary
Based on what the pupils have just read they will clarify unknown vocabulary. This vocabulary may be chosen by the class teacher or it may be suggestions from the children themselves.
Step 6 – New Learning
To be able to construct coherent mental models of the texts they encounter children are supported by the teacher to understand the text. During this part of the lesson, the teacher will select to ‘zooming in’ to study a particular moment in more depth or illustrate a specific teaching point. As shared in the Reading Framework, ‘effective questioning in this stage will deepen pupils’ understanding, prompting them to think about the ideas and language used in the texts they read and hear, driving productive discussion and thus improving attainment. Questioning that promotes elaboration and flexible thinking will support pupils to integrate new ideas and knowledge into their existing schema. It is a principal part of good reading teaching, alongside a teacher’s explanations.’ It is in this part of the lesson a ‘journal task’ may be completed by the children.
Step 7 – Summarise and Reflect
For the final part of the lesson children will summarise what has happened in that day’s section of the text and reflect on the story so far.
At the end of a class novel, children will review their book and share their personal thoughts and opinions on the text.
We are aware that for some of our children our approach needs to be adapted to meet their needs, we do this in a number of ways including interventions or differentiated support in whole class lessons.
Reading Impact
As a school, we use both formative and summative assessment data collecting and information gathering in reading. Assessment informs learning to ensure that all pupils including disadvantage and those with SEND achieve highly and acquire the knowledge, skills and concepts they need to succeed in life. Staff use assessment information to inform their planning and address any common misconceptions that have arisen. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils.
At Thornham St. James, we are committed to ensuring that our curriculum effectively embeds learning in pupils’ long-term memory while also promoting excellence in outcomes. To assess the impact of our curriculum, we employ a comprehensive approach that utilises four key tools:
- Classroom Check-ins: These evaluations focus on subject knowledge, clarity of explanations, high expectations, opportunities for learning, pupil responses, participation, and teacher-student relationships. This allows us to assess how well pupils are engaging with the content and applying their knowledge.
- Pupil Book Looks and Pupil Voice : These studies involve dialogues with pupils and reviewing their workbooks to evaluate curriculum structures, teaching methods, participation, and responses. This dialogic model helps us gauge whether pupils are knowing more, remembering more, and able to do more as a result of their learning experiences.
- Professional Growth Models: We prioritise continuous improvement in staff subject knowledge and evidence-informed teaching practices, including retrieval practice, spaced learning, interleaving, and explicit instruction techniques. This ensures that all teachers are equipped to support pupil learning effectively.
- Assessment and Achievement: We articulate learning outcomes through tasks and tests, evaluating both understanding and areas for improvement. This information informs our next steps, guiding us in adjusting teaching to meet the needs of all pupils.
In conducting these evaluations, we ask critical questions such as:
- How well do pupils remember the content that they have been taught?
- Do books and pupil discussions demonstrate progress and attainment?
- Can pupils apply their learning in more sophisticated contexts, showing that knowledge has ‘travelled’ with them?
Our curriculum in reading leads to pupils’ successful learning. Pupils are well prepared for the next steps and stages of their learning due to the progressive and well-sequenced curriculum. As a result, pupils make progress, they know more and remember more as they move through the English reading curriculum.
At Thornham St James we believe that for all our children to become fluent readers and writers, phonics must be taught through a systematic and structured phonics programme.
We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to plan and provide daily engaging phonics lessons. In phonics, we teach children that the letters of the alphabet represent a different sound, that these can be used in a variety of combinations and are put together to make words. The children learn to recognise all of the different sounds and combinations that they might see when they are reading or writing. Our phonics teaching starts in the second week of Reception and follows a very specific sequence that allows our children to build on their previous phonic knowledge and master specific phonic strategies as they move through school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words that they might discover. At Thornham St James, we also model these strategies in shared reading and writing both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on the development of language skills for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.
How we teach phonics and Early Reading (Early Years and KS1)
- In Reception and Y1, children follow the progression within Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme. Phonics is taught daily.
- Phonics starts in reception in week 2 to ensure the children make a strong start.
- By the end of reception, children will have been taught up to the end of phase 4.
- By the end of Year 1, children will have been taught up to the end of phase 5.
- Children in Year 2 recap any gaps in their phonics knowledge in the autumn term.
- Reception lessons start at 15 minutes, with daily additional oral blending – increasing quickly to 30 minutes.
- Y1 lessons are 30 minutes long.
Reading practice sessions
- Children across Reception, Year 1, Year 2 (and beyond if appropriate) apply their phonics knowledge by using a full matched decodable reader in a small group reading practice session.
- These sessions are 15 minutes long and happen three times a week. There are approximately 6 children in a group.
- The sessions follow the model set out in Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.
- The children then take the same e-book home the following week to ensure success is shared with the family.
- In reception these sessions start in week 4. Children who are not yet blending take a wordless book home.
How do we assess phonic knowledge?
- In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 at the end of each week there is a review session which recaps the learning. There are also whole review weeks (pre-planned and bespoke review weeks to address gaps identified by the class teacher’s ongoing formative assessment).
- Children identified in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 as in danger of falling behind are immediately identified and daily ‘keep up’ sessions are put in place – these sessions follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
- In Reception and Year 1, the children are assessed at the end of every half term using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessment tracker.
- Children in Year 1 complete the statutory Phonics Screening Check in the summer term.
- Children who do not meet standard in the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1, will complete this in Year 2. Support continues to be put in place for these children.
Reading for pleasure – Early Years and KS1
Alongside daily teaching of phonics, reading for pleasure is an important part of our Early Reading offer. We ensure children develop a love of reading and are exposed to a range of interesting and relevant authors. We promote a love of reading in the following ways:
- Teaching of poetry, which includes performing and learning a range of poems by heart.
- Daily storytime.
- Whole class reading sessions which include a range of books that are mapped out to ensure children have a rich reading diet, vocabulary is explicitly taught and children can learn key phrases in the book.
- Book areas within the classroom which have a careful selection of books, including books by the focus author.
- Alongside children’s decodable reading book, children also take home a reading for pleasure book each week; these are labelled as ‘Shared Together Books’.
If you are a parent and would like more information about how to support your child with phonics at home, please follow this link to find the Reception and Year 1 overview as well as videos of the sound pronunciations, letter formation sheets and other helpful resources. https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
