Miles Coverdale Primary School

Here at Miles Coverdale, we believe that reading is at the fore front of everything that we do, which is why we have created this simple breakdown of all aspects of reading within our school.

• Each of our classrooms has a reading corner where pupils can sit comfortably during the day to read a book.  Books are rotated regularly by staff to match the class topic and pupils’ interests. The area is resourced with comics, magazines and newspapers to extend reading for pleasure and in the EYFS/ Yr 1 class and Yr 2/3 class teddies and puppets are used to encourage reading aloud and re-telling stories.
• Each classroom has a selection of books as a mini library with a selection of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. 
• We endeavour to use books and high-quality texts to enrich the learning and provide access to a range of genre.
• To encourage reading at home we have reading record books that pupils/parents use regularly, these are also used to monitor pupils not reading at home so we can provide extra provision in school.
• Reading is celebrated in our school regularly through Gold Awards and reading events throughout the year such as World Book Day.
• Guided reading sessions take place in each class every week to ensure that every pupil is in a group reading session at least once a week. These sessions are 20-30 minutes long.  Pupils also complete reading activities such as reading comprehension when other pupils are completing their guided reading. In EYFS and KS1 pupils are heard individually to read at least once a week. KS2 pupils who are not reading frequently at home are also heard individually to read at school.
• Letters and Sound’s scheme Phonics Play is followed at EYFS and KS1. Yr 2 pupils who have progressed onto phase 6 phonics continue to learn to read and spell words through the Letters and Sounds programme Spelling Play.  Phonics is taught in five 30 minute sessions per week and streamed throughout the school.
• Early reading is encouraged by providing pupils with non-worded reading books in the first instance.  Once they have developed their phonics and decoding skills they are then moved on to texts that match their phonic ability and are fully decodable.
• Pupils who are learning phonics in EYFS and KS1 take home a daily reader book as a decodable book, and are given multiple opportunities to read additional books for pleasure during the school day.
• Pupils on the reading scheme and those who have progressed to ‘Free’ reading continue to be given support in what books to choose as their individual reading book.
• Pupils have access to our local library and visit termly, to explore reading for pleasure, and expand our class reading area with their own choices from our local library.

• All staff are expert readers, modelling reading skills, discussing texts read with the pupils and sharing their own love of reading.
• Teachers read class stories to promote a love and enjoyment of stories, immersing them in the world of imagination.
• Our learning opportunities incorporate a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, to expose pupils to different texts they may enjoy.
• Guided reading sessions allow time for pupils to discuss their reading, helping them to make sense of what they have read. 
• Pupils are encouraged to access the library and change books on a regular basis.  This is in addition to their daily reading book.
• We encourage pupils in each class to share their love of reading eg by inviting them to recommend great reads to their peers; attend book swaps and making bookmarks for the books they have read.
• For World Book Day we celebrate reading for the entire week, encompassing a range of activities from sponsored reads, to guest speaker’s coming and reading to each class, or in assembly.

• Phonics is taught following the Letters and Sounds progression of sounds, through the Phonics Play scheme, to ensure a systematic approach. Phonics lessons follow the same sequence of revise, teach, practise, apply. Planning includes assessment for the graphemes taught. Phonics is assessed half termly to identify gaps in learning to inform future planning and intervention.
• Each class has 1 hour of guided reading each week. Which may be split up across, depending on each class’s timetable. Each pupil has at least one guided reading session per week. The sessions are well-structured and provide opportunity for pupils to read independently, as part of a group which is adult led and to develop comprehension skills. 
• The school supports pupils to be expert readers by developing the key skills of clarifying, questioning, explaining, retrieval, summarising and predicting.

-Clarifying: understanding and explaining what we have read including new vocabulary

-Questioning: ensuring we understand and checking others do too.

-Explaining: developing an understanding of inference and deduction

-Retrieval: using and finding evidence in the text.

-Summarising and sequencing: identifying the main points of the text by recapping prior reading, scanning and using key words.

-Predicting: Using the knowledge of what we have read to make predictions about forthcoming events or actions in a story

• There is a clear progression of reading skills from Reception to Year 6 against which pupils’ progress is measured and gaps are noted and acted on.
• Pupils who are struggling with decoding skills (preventing them from accessing reading material) have targeted interventions or are part of a smaller reading group.  Targeted intervention follows the Letters and Sounds phonics programme, using Phonics Play as a basis.
• Pupils who need further opportunity to practise reading because they do not read at home, are given priority to read to an adult in school. Class teachers ensure volunteers, who come into school to hear readers, are trained to support reading appropriately.
• Staff have pupil progress meetings and the English Co-ordinators complete pupil conferencing in reading.
• We assist parents with supporting reading by providing parents meetings, reading information meetings, information on the website and letters home.

• Pupils are assessed daily in phonics as well as half termly using the Phonics Play assessments. Assessment then informs which books match to the pupil’s phonic ability.
• Staff in EYFS and KS1 are responsible for changing and or checking the pupil’s reading books daily.
• We use Schofield and Sims ‘My Letters and Sounds’ books that directly match to pupils’ phonetic ability. Once they have graduated from these books, we move to the Oxford Reading Tree throughout the school as a reading scheme.  We monitor progress in reading and then match their ability to the stage of reading on the scheme.  This is done through notes from guided reading and from teachers hearing pupils read individually. Staff monitor and check that these books are changed regularly.  Staff will move them onto the next stage when they are confident, they have mastered the skills of the stage.  When pupils are confident readers in KS2 they become ‘Free’ readers.
• Pupils in EYFS and KS1 have their books changed when they have demonstrated reading for fluency.
• Staff monitor the books chosen by ‘free readers’ to check the books are suitably challenging for them. 
• Guided reading books are also selected carefully to challenge the reading of different groups of pupils in school.

Phonics teaching begins with our youngest pupils from the time they join us in Little Learners. Phase 1 is promoted and embedded within the curriculum, exposing pupils to sound rich activities which provide the foundations for reading and writing. We complete baseline assessments in communication, language and literacy to support and identify speech, language and communication needs.

Pupils begin learning letter sounds on entry to Reception. Following the Phonics Play system pupils are immersed in a directed teaching approach which embeds systematic phonics skills as the core skills for reading. Sounds are taught in a specific order, and regular assessment informs future planning and interventions. We also stream our phonics sessions across the school, which enables us to target gaps in learning, and move forward with interventions when necessary.

• Summative data is submitted once a term and pupil progress analysis is taken from this. Pupils identified by class teachers and in pupil progress meetings as not making progress have interventions planned for them and teaching staff are aware of who is a priority for intervention/support.
• Formative data informs day-to-day planning and teachers adapt and change this according the pupil needs.
• Pupils who did not achieve their phonics check receive interventions (daily reader/extra phonics support) and/or work in a group which is teacher driven.
• Where progress becomes a concern, parents are invited to a meeting with the teacher and advice is given as to how they can further support their child at home.

• Teaching staff, including Support Staff receive reading and phonics training as and when required. This may be a specific focus on the phonics programme or a personal target identified in performance management or specific training identified by staff. This may include in-house training or external training depending on the needs of the staff.
• Subject lead feeds back any relevant training during weekly phase and staff meetings.
• Subject lead has led in-house training for the Reciprocal Reading strategy used in school, as well as yearly phonics refresher sessions.