Reading
"Young people who enjoy reading very much are nearly five times as likely to read above their expected age compared with young people who do not enjoy reading at all"
Children's and Young People's Reading Today, National Literacy Trust, 2021
Reading has a very high profile at Wootton Bassett Infants and book corners are well-resourced, up to date, stimulating, and contain a range of text types. Books are displayed in classrooms to engage children and support topic work.
What's in your child's bookbag? - Every child has a fully decodable book and a reading for pleasure book from the classroom
- The decodable book is for your child to read to you
- The other book is for you to read and enjoy with your child
- We encourage re-reading decodable books 3 times - for decoding, fluency and comprehension/understanding
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All classes plan using a topic -based approach which is either based on or supported by key texts. The key texts are displayed in classrooms so that links and comparisons can be made. Most of the written work produced by the children is directly related to and supported by the texts that have been read. Our genre map ensures that there is a balance between fiction, non- fiction and poetry.
Reading Scheme
We promote a 'phonics first' approach and in both our guided reading sessions at school and in the books children take home. Texts are very closely matched to a child's current phonics knowledge so that every child can experience real success in their reading.
We use decodable books from Big Cat Collins and Ranson Reading Stars Phonics to support our phonics scheme, Unlocking Letters & Sounds.
Once children progress beyond decodable texts, they move onto our book scheme and free choice books so that they can continue to progress in their decoding, fluency and comprehension skills to become avid, expert readers.
Reading is known to:
• Help children’s well-being and self- esteem
• Enables children to do better at school and make more progress across the curriculum
• Develops empathy and creativity
• Exposures children to more vocabulary which in turn improves their language and literacy outcomes, their confidence and their communication skills.
Children who are not supported in their reading at home, or require extra support, are identified as priority readers who will read as often as possible during the week at school.
The children also take part in small group guided reading sessions, shared reading and whole class guided reading. Texts are chosen based on the phonics phase the children are on. Guided reading sessions are planned to develop accurate decoding, fluency and comprehension with specific reading tasks set for the children who are working independently during these sessions. Purple Mash is used to reinforce specific reading skills, while book reviews, grammar, vocabulary and comprehension activities are completed independently during guided reading sessions. In Year 2 shared reading is explored through Vipers, a reading comprehension scheme.
Two key reading initiatives are encouraged across the school:
• The 100 books to read before you leave WBI aims to encourage reading for pleasure as they are all books that are highly regarded and are books that the children are encouraged to share at home. These are also sometimes used as key texts that we explore through topic work, assemblies and reading to the children at the end of the day. These books are available from school and through Wootton Bassett library who work with us to ensure the texts are available and sometimes displayed. We have used the book covers to create butterflies which are displayed in the school library and some classrooms to highlight the initiative. The children receive a small prize from Mrs Pass for every 20 reads on the list.
• The 150 Club encourages all parents to read with their child 5 times a week and record those reads in their child’s reading record book. A winner from each class receives a special prize and a treat from Mrs Pass at the end of each term and they are celebrated in assembly and on the newsletter.
We also deliver a phonics and early reading workshop annually to inform parents about how we teach phonics and reading; the importance of reading and our expectation for reading.
Pre- school children from the local area are invited into school for reading sessions with different staff and they are encouraged to borrow books from the school library.
All teachers read to their classes every day. Books are chosen by teachers and children and reflect new books, classics, non -fiction and poetry. We enjoy a Book Week in March (to celebrate World Book Day) where the children receive a World Book Day token. They also visit the local library and are encouraged to take part in a book swap in our own school library.
Poetry plays a huge part in the work we do in school. We have created a poetry spine so that each year group is exposed to wonderful rhymes and stories in school - more information can be found here Wootton Bassett Infants' School Poetry Spine
Trips and events in school are often book related such as visiting theatre groups, the KS1 trip to the Watermill Theatre and the end of Year play. This saw all Key Stage 1 children take part in Peter Pan while all EYFS children told the story of the Nativity at Christmas. West End in Schools visit annually to help us to celebrate World Book Day through dance.
The school library is timetabled, and groups use it regularly.
Being able to read is fundamental to education and proficiency in reading, writing and spoken language is vital for children to be successful learners. Here at WBIS, we aim to create successful and enthusiastic readers and we believe that parents and carers can play a major part in this success.
This video shows a parent reading a phonics book with an EYFS child Sharing a Phonics Book
This video shows a parent sharing a reading for pleasure book Sharing a reading for pleasure book
100 Books to read before you leave WBIS - Part 2
You will find more information about our Reading Progression maps in knowledge and skills.
Wootton Bassett Infants' School Reading Knowledge Progression
Wootton Bassett Infants' School Reading Skills Progression