Language
Language
At least once a week your child will read to their class teacher or teaching assistant. Children who are reading below age-related expectation will be listened to more often. Children who are in RWI phonics sessions will read books to match their phonics stage. They will also bring a RWI book home with them so that they can read to an adult at home.
For children who have transitioned off our RWI phonics programme (usually Key Stage 2), we have a range of fiction and non-fiction books which the children choose. We use a range of reading schemes to support individual reading such as: Oxford Reading Tree and Bug Club. The children will be told which level they are reading at so that they can select an appropriate book. They will also be asked questions to check their understanding of the book.
We encourage parents/carers to write comments in the children’s reading record books when they have heard their child read at home. Reading books are changed when we think the child fully understands the book they are reading.
At Willow Tree, we follow schemes designed by Read Write Inc (RWI) to deliver our English curriculum. In the EYFS and Key Stage 1, we use RWI to deliver our phonics curriculum which includes the teaching of reading and writing. This scheme provides children with age-appropriate texts designed to develop children’s fluency and comprehension skills. When the children are ready (usually in Year 2), the children move onto a programme called Literacy and Language. This programme runs from Year 2 to Year 6, however children who need more support in their reading will continue on the phonics curriculum until they are ready.
The aim of the programme is to develop children’s comprehension, writing and spoken language. As part of the English lesson, the children will read a range of different texts which are designed to engage children at an age-appropriate level. The children have opportunities to listen to the teacher reading and are able to read with a partner and independently throughout these sessions. The children are taught to gain a deep understanding of what they have read, as well as how to speak articulately, have debates and justify their answers.
As well as shared reading as a whole class, we also conduct guided reading sessions that focus on developing children’s fluency and comprehension skills. In the EYFS and Key Stage 1, these guided reading sessions are built into the RWI programme and happen on a daily basis. These sessions provide an opportunity for an adult to listen to the children’s reading carefully and ask questions to assess their understanding.
In Key Stage 2, the children use a scheme called Bug Club Comprehension to support their guided reading sessions. Bug Club Comprehension focuses on developing the children’s understanding of the texts that they have read. These sessions are teacher guided and happen 4 times per week.
If any of the children in Year 3 and 4 require extra support in their reading, they will continue in RWI groups until they are ready to transition to Bug Club Comprehension.
We have a school library which is accessible to all children in school. We have a range of books in our library; both fiction and non-fiction to interest the children. Each class visit the library weekly to read for pleasure and children can borrow a book from here to enhance their love for reading.
