Reading
Reading is a fundamental life skill - we place a huge amount of importance on the development of good phonological knowledge and the acquisition of early reading skills at St Bede's School.
In Key Stage Two all children are heard read weekly by the Class Teacher/Teaching Assistant in guided reading sessions. Additional reading occurs each week with parent helpers, students or older children from Key Stage Two listening and supporting the children in their reading. Targeted groups are identified each term to support the development of reading for those children who may be falling behind. Advice on how to help your child at home is given out in the October Open Evening and can be found on this page.
We encourage parents to listen to their child read every day and to record a comment in their child's reading journal.
We use a range of schemes at St Bede's School to help develop the children's reading. In the Early Years, Key Stage One and Key Stage Two we have invested money in reading books that ensure the children apply their phonic knowledge from the teaching of Read, Write Inc. As the children become more fluent they will begin to use Rigby Star reading books before selecting independent books from the library.
We assess the children's reading through guided and independent reading observations. We also use Head Start formal assessments at the end of each term to check the children's phonological and comprehension development. Through the use of these methods we can ensure that your child is making progress, ensure they are reading at the right level and plan interventions if needed.
Comprehension is taught through a range of methods, such as discussing books and pictures in guided and independent reading, questions during story time, shared reading in English lessons such as exploring a leaflet or reading a postcard, reading challenge questions linked to the child's independent reading book, Accelerated Reader, Oak Academy whole class guided reading before more formal comprehension practice is introduced in preparation for the SATs.
A huge priority for our school is reading for pleasure! All children visit the library van twice a year and select books to be taken home to share with their family. The children also enjoy a story on the library van and are exposed to new titles and authors such as the latest books that are becoming available on the market. Each child is given the opportunity to select a new library book to take home each week. The children are encouraged to sign up for a library card and we have visited the library at Morton Manor in the past to support this. Each class in Key Stage Two engages in Book Talk weekly, this provides the children and staff the opportunity to chat about the books they have been reading. We regularly sign up to live author events online and when possible invite authors, poets and illustrators into school to work with the children.
Daily story time is enjoyed by all children across school. Nursery, Reception, Year One and Year Two are paired with a Key Stage Two Class every half term for paired reading. The class teachers also visit different classes to share a book that they have enjoyed with the children to improve the knowledge of different texts for both the children and staff. We join in with World Book Day and plan events/clubs such as Bedtime Stories and Chatterbooks across the year to engage both the children and their families in the wonderful world of reading.
10 Top Tips for Parents to Support Children to Read