Reading at Pakefield
At Pakefield Primary School we have a strong passion for instilling a love of reading in all children. The love of reading is nurtured from the moment children join us in Nursery to the moment they leave us in year 6 to enable all children to become confident and competent readers.
The school’s reading books are organised into book bands (colours) which are consistent across the school. When children are confident and competent enough they are allowed to become free-readers where they are encouraged to choose a book from the school library.
School staff use their own love of reading to guide children to choose books which both interest and challenge them. Staff work alongside local book shops and the local library to ensure that the library has the latest books to enthuse children. As a school we also follow Pie Corbett’s Reading Spine to ensure that children have a range of books they are all familiar with before they leave us at the end of Year 6. This can be found below:
Reading challenges play a key role in our school and children are encouraged to read at least 3x a week at home. Reading at home can involve school reading books, comics, newspapers or any of your own books. We want to promote a love of reading and this comes in many forms!
Pakefield Reading Expectations
pakefield primary school reading expectations 2019 2020.pdf
Reading Phase 1
At Pakefield Primary School, we understand the importance of developing children’s knowledge of Phonics to support them in becoming competent and fluent readers. As a school we base our Phonic practice around the Letters and Sounds programme. More information can be found on our Phonics page and also on the Letters and Sounds Website below.
Phonics underpins the teaching of Reading in Phase 1 and is embedded throughout the continuous provision available to all children. Books sent home are closely matched to children’s phonics knowledge to challenge children whilst ensuring that they are still enjoyable.
Children are encouraged to read at least 3x a week at home to an adult and are rewarded for doing so in school with our Reading Challenge where children get special prizes and certificates. As well as reading to an adult on a 1:1 basis at least once a week children are also supported to read through echo and paired reading. To promote a love of reading and to develop listening skills children in Phase 1 are also read to daily using a class book. Whilst listening to the class book children are asked a range of comprehension questions to begin to develop their knowledge and understanding of texts ready for their journey into Phase 2 and 3. Guided reading sessions are also used alongside 1:1 reading to an adult to support children to understand a range of both fiction and non -fiction texts.
Guided Reading in Phase 2 & 3
Throughout Phase 2 and 3 we continue building on the skills that children have developed through Phase 1 to support all of our children to become competent and confident readers. Children in year 2 have a daily phonic session to consolidate their phonic knowledge using Phase 5 sounds which can be found the letters and sounds website. Any children that need more support with phonics further up the school have intervention sessions to ensure that any gaps in their learning are addressed.
Guided Reading is taught using whole class sessions throughout Phase 2 and 3. Texts are carefully selected to both challenge children and to promote that crucial love of reading. The structure of Guided Reading is the same every week to support children to develop a range of skills that will enable them to become confident and fluent readers.
Day 1:
Children are “immersed” in a text through being hooked into a book; past examples of this include using film clips, music or senses to promote an interest and excitement about what children are about to read.
At Pakefield, we have a strong belief that having a broad vocabulary is key to being a successful reader. All teachers pre-read each text and pick out and key or challenging vocabulary and share this with the children so that they can fully understand what they are reading. Once children understand the vocabulary from the text the teacher then shares the text with the class. This enables pre-learning for children who may find accessing the text difficult, it also encourages children to enjoy the text without having to worry about the technicalities of word reading. When children are more familiar with the text we use echo reading and paired reading to encourage children to read aloud.
Day 2:
When children are all familiar with the text on Day 2 Guided Reading is used to develop skills including predicting what might happen next, summarising what has already happened or gaining a deeper understanding of vocabulary. This is vital for encouraging children to understand what they are reading.
Day 3 and 4:
By now children should be really familiar with the text so they are asked to answer a range of questions about the text to develop their comprehension. These questions are usually developed using the PIXL STEM cards (see below for some examples):
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2f Identify/explain how information/narrative content is related and contributes to meaning as a whole
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2e Predict what might happen from details stated and implied
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Throughout the process, children are supported in developing methods to correctly identify the answers to questions. It also promotes discussion about different aspects of the text and encourages children to gain an even deeper understanding of what they have read. At this stage children are also encouraged to write their own questions about the text for their peers to answer.
World Book Day
Alongside individual reading and Guided Reading at Pakefield, we provide the children with numerous opportunities to read in a fun and exciting way. Each year we celebrate a range of books and literature. For example, during World Book Day using a range of different activities to “bring books to life”. For the past 5 years we have invited West End in Schools into school to bring a book to life using choreography from the West End. We also encourage children to dress up as their favourite book character and to bring in their favourite book to share!
Spelling
At Pakefield Primary School we really understand the importance of children being able to use spellings throughout the curriculum and not just achieve 10/10 in a spelling test. To support our children to learn their spellings and internalise them we use the following pattern of teaching each week:
All spellings that are sent home are from the DFE’s spelling lists which can be found at:
Our School Feedback and Marking Policy also supports children to notice when they have made a spelling mistake and they then go through and purple polish their work using dictionaries, word cards or teacher support.
If you have any questions relating to the teaching of reading or writing, please speak with your child’s class teacher or make an appointment with Mrs Nielson, Mrs Lock, or Mrs Harper.
