Reading

Teaching of Reading

Our overarching principle is: Learn to read, read to learn

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum and we base our teaching around high quality texts in each year group. All children from Foundation Stage to Year 6 take part in daily reading sessions. We develop decoding skills and fluency and focus upon the skills needed for reading comprehension.

In every class we value the importance of story time sessions and 'book talk'. In every class, teachers read a story to the children every day. Children are encouraged to discuss the story and share their own opinions. We also value the importance of children recommending books and authors to others, giving reasons for these.

We use the Read Write Inc phonics scheme to deliver our teaching of phonics and early reading in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. RWinc is a synthetic phonics programme that ensures early success in reading, writing and spelling - see Phonics page for further information.

Whole Class Reading: We use quality texts which 'hook' children into their reading. From Y2 to Y6 we focus on developing pupils' level of understanding of the text, through discussion, oral and written responses and the exploration of new vocabulary. Children are taught the skills of vocabulary exploration, prediction, sequencing, making inferences and retrieving information. The VIPERS strategy is used to focus on developing these specific reading skills. Throughout these session reading comprehension skills are accelerated and also reading stamina, confidence and a love of books.

Reading for Pleasure: Each classroom has a reading corner and children are able to choose a book from it that they can read for pleasure. In addition, the school library is available for all children to visit and take home a book of their choice. We encourage children to bring in their favourite books from home to share with others. We promote book talk, encourage everyone to recommend good books for others to read and discuss favourite authors. We encourage reading in all subject areas and books are used to support the learning  throughout the wider curriculum.

Please see below our Reading Progression Documents:

Children are taught the skills of reading comprehension by using the range of question types. We use the VIPERS question examples and stems as a resource when teaching and extending comprehension skills. VIPERS is an anagram to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains. They are the key areas children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts.

VIPERS stands for:

Vocabulary

Infer

Predict

Explain

Retrieve

Sequence or Summarise

The 6 domains focus on the comprehension aspect of reading and not the mechanics. VIPERS is not a reading scheme but rather a method of ensuring that teachers ask, and students are familiar with a range of questions. They allow the teacher to track the types of questions asked and the children's responses to these which allows for targeted questioning afterwards.

In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 reading skills are taught and practised using VIPERS during whole class reading sessions. Children participate in whole class reading lessons upon completion of the Read Write Inc programme (in Year 1 or Year 2)

Please see below the VIPERS question examples and stems:

If you require further information on any aspects of the English curriculum or have any questions, please contact the subject leaders:

Assistant Heads: Mrs K Marsden and Mrs S McQuillan