At Newhall Park, we place reading and books at the centre of our curriculum. We are passionate about nurturing a love of reading and we are determined that every pupil will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities with all pupils, including the weakest readers, making sufficient progress to meet or exceed age-related expectations. We believe the development of English skills is central to improving a pupil’s life chances. Because of this, we aim to deliver high quality reading provision by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken word and developing their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

Aims

To support them in this, we aim to teach pupils:

· to master the basic mechanical skills of reading;

· to read with accuracy, fluency and expression;

· to acquire a wider vocabulary and a greater understanding of grammar in the English language;

· to develop and use higher order reading skills which will contribute to their overall comprehension of texts;

· to understand the value of information texts as an aid to learning;

· to develop a love of literature and an understanding of the pleasure reading can bring through ongoing investment in new, more imaginative and relevant texts.

The Reading Journey

Within Key Stage 1, the priority is to teach decoding skills and nurture fluency along with developing reading comprehension skills. As pupils move into Key Stage 2, pupils are encouraged and supported in becoming more independent readers. Pupils have dedicated reading time to access our Accelerated Reading Programme for either reading books or taking quizzes. Using knowledge of their own zone of proximal development, they choose appropriate books within their range.

Whole-Class Guided Reading

Every child takes part in whole-class guided reading, accessing high-quality texts which challenge and excite pupils’ imagination and inspire pupils to become life-long readers. Using the appropriate key stage content domains, lessons will focus on improving decoding and fluency, expanding knowledge of vocabulary, as well as developing key

reading comprehension skills. Written work is recorded in our new-style reading journals which already clearly show the pride the pupils take in their reading adventures.

Reading with Adults in School and at Home

Pupils read with a variety of adults in school. Pupils choose books within their colour band to read within school and to bring home. You make a difference. Reading at home is a key part of our reading journey. All pupils are expected to take their book home in a sealed reading bag at the end of each school day and return it the following morning to use in school. Along with their book will be a Reading Record that both us in school and you at home will be able to add comments in each time your child reads. (Importantly, in light of Covid-19, we ask that you wash your hands before handling the books in order to maintain a good healthy regime throughout school.)

Extended Reading

As stated at the beginning, we place reading and books at the core of our curriculum and this is reflected in the new stock of reading materials within our library. We have invested in books that support and enhance our curriculum subjects and offer pupils the opportunities to read around a subject for themselves. During the current situation, we are unable to provide access to the library for lending books to take home. However you can access free ebooks from bestselling children’s authors by joining Bradford Libraries and clicking on the app.

Just follow the link:

Reading in Action: