Reading

Vision for Reading
 
At All Saints we strive to get children reading for pleasure. We aim to do this through a rigorous and sequential approach to the reading curriculum, which develops pupils' fluency and word recognition, ensures they gain an understanding of what they read and introduces them to a high number of quality-rich and enjoyable texts. This is done through our 'Reach for the Stars' reading approach from EYFS, through our Phonics and Early Reading approach, to Upper Key Stage 2, with our dedicated approach to reading. We ensure that reading is a focus area in the school, from the time the children arrive, for Breakfast with a Book, to the time that they leave with enjoyable class stories.
 
Subject Priorities
 
1)     To continue to ensure that children are closely matched to books based on their phonic knowledge, allowing them to be well supported and make rapid progress.
 
2)     To ensure that all children are reading as often as they can at home, engaging parents in our Reach for the Stars reading approach.
 
3)     To embed our new library system, allowing all children to access it at different times during the week and continue to foster reading for pleasure within our school.
 
 
What's New?
 
As a school we have invested heavily in new, exciting and enjoyable books for the children. Every child is now closely matched to a reading book at any appropriate phonics phase or reading ability level. Higher up the school, children are now supported with a book group that is correct for them. We have also spent £5000 to update our library books, library area and topic books, to ensure that children have engaging, high quality reading material to use, read or even take home.
 
Reading forms an important part of every day at All Saints, and is a key part of our English lessons. Children read genre and topic-specific extracts, to ensure they understand what is expected of them by the end of a writing topic. They are given weekly reading comprehension questions to complete during English lessons. There is also dedicated reading time at the end of every day, where classes can enjoy a class book together.

  • Mr Horton

    Assistant Headteacher

    Hi everybody, my name is Mr Horton and I have the pleasure of leading the subject of English at All Saints. I am very passionate about reading and its importance in order for children to be able to learn effectively. It's such a vital skill, which we aim to teach effectively, to allow the children to embark on their journeys of discovery.
The children are striving to read at home as often as possible, gaining rewards for doing so through our Reach for the Stars approach, where children are trying to get their bronze, silver and gold stars in their reading records. New prizes have recently been purchased, to ensure that the children are engaged even further, including rubbers, pencils, glow in the dark reading wristbands and brand-new books for if they get to their gold stars.
 
After the DfE published The Reading Framework in Summer 2021, and removed Letters and Sounds from their validated list of phonics programmes we took the decision to follow the DfE validated Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) programme Essential Letters and Sounds. Essential Letters and Sounds provides a simple, consistent structure which ensures children are taught phonics to the highest standard.
 
To supplement ELS, we have introduced our own phonics resource, created by Assistant Headteacher and English/Key Stage 1 Lead Mr Horton and EYFS/Phonics Lead Mrs Fletcher, and illustrated by LSA Miss Yates-Smith. The resource is closely matched to the needs of our children and using it to supplement ELS has had a significant impact on the children’s attainment in phonics, with 89% of Year 1s passing their Phonics Screening Check in Summer 2022.
 
Useful Links
 
A huge catalogue of books for the children to enjoy at home.
 
A free eBook library for 3-11 year-olds and educational games and activities to enjoy.
 
A selection of games to improve children's phonic skills and to help with early reading skills, such as decoding, segmenting and blending.
 
A website offering support and advice for getting children to read.
 
Find our Phonics and Early Reading tab for what reading looks like in EYFS and KS1, and access stories at home, read by staff at All Saints, through our World Book Day 2022 tab.