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East Bridgford St Peter's Church of England Academy

Reading at St. Peter's

'The more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you will go.'

Dr. Seuss

 

 

At St. Peter's we want all our children to be readers. By giving our children a diet of 'good books' that are chosen to excite, engage and interest them all in different ways, we aim to ignite a pleasure in reading and a love of books and stories. We wish for all our children to experience the magic of getting 'lost in a book' and discovering what could be, by reading a range of authors,  genres and other reading materials.

 

At St. Peter's we also understand that learning to read is a fundamental skill that forms the basis for learning in all areas of the curriculum. Through reading, children not only improve their ability to decode words and understand text but also develop critical thinking, creativity and a love for learning.

 

Reading is one of the fundamental skills that support:

 

Cognitive Development: Reading promotes intellectual growth by expanding vocabulary, improving comprehension, and encouraging the development of higher-order thinking skills such as inference, analysis, and evaluation.

Language Skills: Reading helps students understand sentence structure, grammar, and syntax. Exposure to diverse language patterns builds fluency and communication skills that are crucial for success in writing and speaking.

Social and Emotional Development: Reading offers children the opportunity to engage with characters and stories that foster empathy and emotional intelligence. Literature introduces diverse perspectives and experiences, helping children understand different cultures, situations, and values.

Academic Success: Proficiency in reading is directly linked to achievement in other subjects, as it is essential for understanding textbooks, instructions, and other written materials across the curriculum. Strong reading skills support mathematical understanding, scientific inquiry, and even social studies.

Lifelong Learning: Encouraging reading from a young age instills a lifelong habit of learning and curiosity. It prepares children to be independent learners, critical thinkers, and well-informed individuals who can navigate the world around them.

 

The Teaching of Reading at St. Peter's

 

Our reading curriculum seeks to promote reading for pleasure alongside academic achievement. To do this we have used resources to carefully sequence and structure reading sessions to help develop children's fluency and comprehension, the two main strands described in Scarborough's Reading Rope. 

 

The Scarborough Reading Rope demonstrates that language comprehension and word recognition must work in unison for our children to become fluent, successful readers. Skilled reading relies on the intertwining of language comprehension and word recognition and each strand works together, gradually strengthening to create fluent, meaningful reading.

 

The diagram below illustrates this.

Phonics

In the first few weeks of school, children are introduced to our phonics scheme, Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. This is an ambitious phonics programme that supports the acquisition of phonic skills alongside a fully sequential and phonically decodable reading scheme.

 

In Reception and Year 1, phonics is taught in daily 20 minute sessions and is designed to recap and revisit skills taught previously.  Once children have gained all the necessary skills to decode fluently and confidently, they move onto the spelling programme in Year 2. Children are assessed regularly and every opportunity is taken to practise and embed the knowledge and skills they have been taught to develop automaticity in word recognition. It is vital that children build up a large bank of words that they can read without having to think about them.

How to support reading at home

Below is an example of one of our 'Bee a reader bookmarks' awarded for sustained and consistent reading at home. See below for information on how you can work towards these awards and collect the whole set.

Reading for Pleasure

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