English Reading Subject Leader: Mr G Ward
Intent
At Ditton Church of England Junior School, Reading is given top priority as we fundamentally believe that it has an important place in our society. We aim to inspire an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and a habit of reading widely for pleasure – a real ‘love of reading’ for all.
We strive for all children to be strong independent readers, growing in their abilities as they progress throughout their years at Ditton; reading for a range of different purposes and audiences.
Implementation
Throughout their reading journey, we ensure the children are immersed in a range of genres and have a clear understanding of purpose. Our children will have a secure understanding of the purpose of a text type, the intended impact of writing skills/tools and the ability to carefully select vocabulary with careful attention to the desired effect on the readers’ thoughts and feelings.
All pupils develop the following reading skills throughout their school journey: Decoding and Word Reading, Prosody, Inference, Vocabulary, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval Summarising and Sequencing.
Reading lessons are centred on a range of texts, clips, pictures and other sources and developed using the VIPERS skills.
In addition to daily Reading lessons, there are opportunities for catch up phonics to take place using Little Wandle to mirror the work completed in the infants and daily opportunities for story-telling. We use a wide variety of quality texts and resources to motivate and inspire our children. We also provide a wealth of enrichment opportunities, including, for example, World Book Day, National Poetry Day, Reading incentive, and the plan to launch a Summer Reading challenge.
Impact
As a result of our planned work development of a structured approach to the teaching and learning of reading, we will have a community of enthusiastic and confident readers. Reading will be at the forefront of all that we do as a school.
Assessments
At Ditton Junior School, we follow the Chris Quigley ‘Essentials’ Curriculum which sets out essential coverage, learning objectives, standards, and progress measures that are required for all subjects.
For Maths, GPAS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) and Reading, the children will be assessed formally twice a year in Years 3, 4 and 5 and 3 times per year in 6. These assessments give the children a standardised score.
Accelerated Reader
We use Accelerated Reader (AR), an online research-proven reading practice system that develops children’s comprehension skills and provides useful assessment information for teachers and families. AR uses a computer programme to help manage and monitor children’s independent reading practice. As part of this, children complete a Star Test on the computer each term which gives them a reading level to read within. This enables children to choose a book at their own level. When they have finished their chosen book, they take a short comprehension quiz on the computer. Passing the quiz is an indication that they have understood what they have read. AR gives children, teaching staff and parents feedback on quiz results. Teachers can use this to help set goals and direct ongoing reading practice.
Children using AR choose their own books to read, rather than having one assigned to them. It guides children to choose books at an appropriate readability level that is challenging without being frustrating. This helps to ensure that each child can pass the quiz and experience both challenge and success. For more information, please see the Accelerated Reader Parents guide.
English Reading Progression
When progressing, young readers will, at a certain stage, successfully make the leap into their first chapter of books. To help pupils to pick a selection of short, illustrated chapter books that are perfect for children launching into independent reading, please click here.
Assessments
At Ditton Junior School, we follow the Chris Quigley ‘Essentials’ Curriculum which sets out essential coverage, learning objectives, standards, and progress measures that are required for all subjects.
For Maths, GPAS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) and Reading, the children will be assessed formally twice a year in Years 3, 4 and 5 and 3 times per year in 6. These assessments give the children a standardised score.
SEND Information
Teachers adapt activities for accessibility for SEND groups and challenge more able and confident readers. Additional reading support is available for vulnerable children.