Reading

Through our English curriculum, we aim to promote high standards of communication and literacy, developing the essential and life-long skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Through providing a secure knowledge base in literacy which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum, we aim to equip our children with the tools they need to participate not only in the wider curriculum but also as members of society. We aim to make the learning journey an exciting, enriching and holistic one whereby we weave our English learning with our wider learning journey: discussing, reading and writing about topics that are relevant, challenging and engaging.

Our Reading Curriculum Intent

At St. Peter’s, we fully understand the importance reading has on all areas of the curriculum. We are committed to promoting high standards of literacy and to developing pupils’ love of literature. Our vision is that every child can read fluently by the end of Year 2 in order to access a broad and rich curriculum, and to develop the habit of reading widely and often, both for pleasure and information. Within our reading lessons, we support children to develop their de-coding skills as well as their comprehension and understanding of a range of texts and genres (using our VIPERS framework). In our aim to foster a lifelong love of books and reading for our learners, we immerse our pupils in high quality texts that we hope to excite them, challenge them, develop their imagination and open them up to worlds of possibilities. All pupils are encouraged to read widely across both fiction, non-fiction and poetry to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Where pupils are not fluent readers, intervention and additional targeted learning will be put in place so that children in Year 3 develop their fluency. We believe that our school is an environment that celebrates and promotes reading through our fantastic library, inspiring classroom book corners and our strong links with our local library in the centre of Canterbury. It is our commitment to our pupils and we will ensure that all St. Peter’s children leave primary school equipped for secondary education.

St Peter’s reading intent is implemented in the following ways throughout the school:

RECEPTION:

• Systematic synthetic phonics is taught every day in Reception and Key Stage 1, applying the Little Wandle scheme.
• Children read from books with the sounds they know, while they are learning to read.
• Teachers and teaching assistants provide extra practice through the day for the children who make the slowest progress (the lowest 20%) through Little Wandle catch up sessions (Little Wandle Assessment Tracker).

KS1 AND KS2

• Our English curriculum is centred around reading with whole class texts being stimuli for learning.
• Teachers instil in children a love of literature: the best stories and poems.
• All pupils participate in daily guided reading sessions which use our class reader as a ‘hook’.
• All staff are aware of the pupils who find reading a challenge, who have barriers in their way and who need additional support.
• These pupils who have been identified in the lowest 20% receive rapid intervention identified on class provision maps.
• On a daily basis (this may be linked to the overall topic of the term).
• Language-rich stories, poems and texts are used both in reading and writing lessons to engage pupils and extend their knowledge of the English language.
• Pupil Voice discussions carried out by the English lead highlights what the students think about reading at St Peter’s.
• Age-specific books used for guided reading sessions three times per week.
• One day on VIPERS short text (both information and narrative).
• One day of poetry which explores a range of themes.
• Monitoring of reading records in Years 1-6 ensures coverage of a range of texts and students are guided in choosing books when necessary.

Enrichment days (visits from authors, World Book Day etc.) are held to enrichen the pupils’ experiences and engage them in their reading.

Our school library is used by each class. Books chosen are closely monitored by class teachers to ensure they are challenging yet accessible, with varied themes and vocabulary. Book choices are tracked using the school’s library system and the children’s reading records.

VIPERS

Progression in Reading at St. Peter's 

progression document reading.pdf

Useful links and documents

/docs/Curriculum/English/Some_top_tips_for_helping_your_child_to_read_at_home.pdf

/docs/Curriculum/English/Using_Reading_VIPERS_at_home.docx

/docs/Curriculum/English/English_Glossary.pdf