We want our children to have a love of books and a desire to read for enjoyment. A reading child is one who has an enriched environment, a broader vocabulary and the ability to ask questions about the world around them. The National Curriculum states that, “All pupils must be encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world they live in, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum. Reading also feeds pupils’ imagination and opens up a treasure house of wonder and joy for curious young minds”.
Every class enjoys a daily story time session, with teachers reading books from our Reading Spine. These books are not intended to be used for lessons but have been chosen solely for enjoyment. We ensure that all of these books are read throughout the year so that children experience – and enjoy - a wide range of literature during their time at Moseley.
Reading lessons occur daily outside the English lesson and are separate from Phonics lessons. Children access a wide range of texts within their English and Reading lessons. They are encouraged to re-read texts to build fluency. In EYFS and Year 1, reading lessons are based on a rotation during the week with the teacher taking a guided group each day. Teachers use a range of books from Floppy Phonics and Collins Big Cat to ensure that children can read, practicing the sounds they have learnt in Phonics. They also use Oxford Reading Tree books which contain ‘tricky words’ (words which cannot be sounded out phonetically). In Year 2, reading is taught through a Whole Class reading approach, including guided group work where necessary.
Link to login Big Cat ebooks: Collins Ebooks (collinsopenpage.com)
In Years 2-6, comprehension skills are taught through the Whole Class Reading approach. Teachers follow Steps to Read, a sequential scheme which uses extracts from high quality texts to ensure coverage of the reading domains as set out in the National Curriculum. Texts are linked by theme, and related to other areas of the curriculum, encouraging children to make connections between texts and their wider learning. Within these lessons, children increase their fluency through a variety of approaches including paired reading, echo reading and choral reading. Teacher model fluent reading, as well as teaching the skills needed for comprehension.
At Moseley, we recognise the value of regular home reading in order to build reading habits and encourage reading for enjoyment. Reading to an adult daily aids children’s fluency and comprehension of texts. We use the Oxford Reading Tree scheme to support the development of reading and all children have a book assigned to them that they take home in order to practise. These books are carefully selected to ensure that they match the child’s reading ability and teachers check regularly to ensure that children are reading books from the correct stage. Children in Reception and KS1 also take home Collins Big Cat books and ebooks – these are phonetically decodable and allow them to practise and apply their phonics learning. Additionally, all children have access to the school library and their class library – this enables children to have the freedom of choice of fiction and non-fiction texts which encourages reading for pleasure.
Link to ORT: Oxford Reading Tree & Levels: parent guide - Oxford Owl for Home
We promote reading for enjoyment and try to build excitement for reading in school. All children are able to choose books that they are interested in from our school library to take home. They are also encouraged to discuss and recommend books to their peers. During the year, we encourage good reading habits with rewards and incentives, as well as standalone events such as author visits and World Book Day celebrations.