Ebchester CE Primary School
Reading & Phonics
“Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s future success” OECD, 2002
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Central to learning is creating a life-long love of reading and books. At Ebchester CE Primary School, we firmly believe that reading feeds children’s imaginations and opens doors to all kinds of new worlds.
Through reading, children have the opportunity to grow and succeed- developing culturally, socially and emotionally as well as reaping the benefits academically. It is our aim that every pupil leaves Ebchester CE Primary School with the skills and strategies needed to be a resilient, confident and independent reader.
Reading Progession of Learning
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Phonics
At Ebchester CE Primary School, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We start teaching phonics in Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
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As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. We also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.
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Phonics Progression – Reception and Year One
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Comprehension
At Ebchester CE Primary School, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.
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Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, we have a Reading Leader (Mr Chris Carr) who drives the early reading programme in our school. It is the Reading Leader’s role to monitor and support our reading team, so everyone teaches with fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
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Find out more about Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised here.
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In KS2, Reciprocal Reading is one of the strategies used to developing reading and comprehension — a kind of ‘talk for reading’. Through a structured, talk based approach, it supports children’s understanding of text by enabling them to discuss confusions and misunderstandings.
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Reading Books
We use the Little Wandle Collins Big Cat reading scheme for our Reception and KS1 children. These books are fully decodable and matched to the the phonetic focus that the pupils will be working on in class.
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KS2 pupils follow the Oxford University Press Treetops scheme. All pupils are encouraged to enjoy a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books at home and at school. All pupils select a library book on a weekly basis to share with family and friends at home.
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If you would like any further details on either how phonics is taught or suggestions of suitable reading books, please do not hesitate to contact the school and speak to your child’s class teacher.
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Story Time
Love of reading is developed through sharing high-quality texts. Each class has a timetabled story time each day. We use this time to share a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books. Click on the links below to find out which books our classes will be sharing this year.
Reading at Home
Reading with your child can support them in developing a love of reading. The Open University have come up with guides and videos to support parents with this.
Supporting Readers at Home Poster
Book Chat- Reading With Your Child
Why re-reading story books matters
Recommended Books to Share
With so many books to chose from, where do you start when selecting a book to read with your child? Here are a selection of sites which give some great examples of books to share for each age group.
BookTrust Great Book Guide 2021
