English- Reading & Writing

Here at Fairburn, we feel passionately that not only must all children be able to read and write fluently but that it is our job to introduce all children to a love of books and reading. There is nothing better than enjoying a book you love or feeling proud of writing you have crafted.

READING

What do we want to achieve?

We show our belief about the importance of books by ensuring that they are prevalent in each classroom and in all aspects of school life. We want the children to be exposed to a full range of high quality texts in the classroom and to be motivated to read in their own time, recognising the value that engagement with a good book brings.

The image below demonstrates how we act on our belief about how a competent reader develops-

being exposed to a strong reading culture
having a consistent approach to the teaching of reading across the school
developing a full range of comprehension skills so that children can enjoy and fully engage with texts.

This is based on the model of Reading produced by ‘Talk for Writing’ with Pie Corbett. We have written our version, detailing what happens in our school.

Fairburn reading — Adapted from Pie Corbett's View of Reading

Without all three vital components, children cannot become competent, fluent readers.

How do we teach reading?

All children in Y1‑6 are taught the content of the National Curriculum. Please see the link below for details.

National Curriculum for English

The next image shows in more detail the progression of teaching reading across the school. Children enter Foundation Stage at the left hand side of the diagram with early reading skills. As they progress through the school, experiencing all our teaching practices and reading experiences, they leave us in Y6, with a developed set of skills as the right hand side of the diagram shows.

Reading Implementation — Based on the Simple View of Reading

Phonics

Daily phonics teaching begins in Foundation/Year 1, initially with short, discreet sessions that increase in length up to 30 minutes. We follow the ‘Letters & Sounds’ approach through a recently adopted programme (Summer Term 2022) called ‘Little Wandle’. Please see the link below to find out more about ‘Little Wandle”- how it is structured; the phonics sounds covered and support for parents.

Support for parents

Little Wandle for Parents

The programme is based around the idea that in order to not cognitively overload a child and to ensure that reading becomes fluent, children are taught phonetic sounds and only read words in books containing the phonic sounds matched to their stage of teaching as well any tricky words that they have been introduced to. Daily keep up sessions take place for any children who have not managed to grasp a grapheme that has been taught so that no child is left behind. It is imperative that all children learn to read.

Constant re-cap of the phonic sounds continues throughout the school in all year groups using the same Reading Routine and phonics mats to support spelling in other lessons.

The class teacher will keep you updated through parent consultations/end of term reports or conversations they have with you so that you know how your child is progressing.

SEND Pupils

The DfE Reading Framework Part 2 states that all pupils should have access to great phonics teaching regardless of any SEND. Only those pupils with the most profound SEND may not access phonics. The ambition for all SEND pupils is high, and this is because, as adults, they will need to access the same language as all others do. So, it is essential that we, as teachers, make sure that all of our pupils, especially those
with needs have access to great phonics teaching – every day. Therefore we will

• Ensure that pupils with SEND have phonic teaching routinely every day. This could be chunked across the day to better meet their needs.
• Make sure that resources for these sessions are broken down into smaller steps – so rather than the whole alphabetic frieze, use 4 key letters or even one.
• Break down the steps to learning the GPC into smaller parts, start with just articulating the sound, then build from there until full GPC is secured.
• Use the SEND resources that are part of our SSP subscription so that fidelity is maintained.

Reading display — A reading wall in a classroom

Practise Reading Sessions

In F & Y1 and Y2, children have practice reading sessions in small groups with a staff member leading. They teach the reading process and check comprehension. Books align to the Little Wandle phonics programme. In Y2,3 & 4, the Little Wandle Reading Fluency programme has been recently introduced and is taught twice a week in small groups to ensure that all children can read fluently so we can prepare them for Secondary School.

In class 2, Y5,& 6 children also have group reading sessions twice a week but their focus is on reading comprehension because by this point, we are aiming for all children to read at least 120 words per minute.

Individual Reading

We really value and recognise the importance of hearing children read 1:1 as well as in groups. Following lockdown, all children were heard to read at least three times a week. Now, all children are heard once a week alongside the practise reading sessions and children needing additional support, continue to read at least three times a week, supported by a team of volunteers.

Reading is also set for homework. Phonics books are changed weekly. Each child up to Y2, has both a phonics book linked to their teaching phase as well as a sharing book to read with parents. They read the phonics book three times during the week in school before taking it home to share with parents the week after. The sharing book is changed Monday/Wednesday/Friday as needed.

Children in Y3‑6, have a mixture of staged and free reader books so that they can access texts appropriate for their age and stage of reading.

If you want support hearing your children read at home, please come and have a chat with us.

Reading for Comprehension

As well as taking part in 1:1 and guided reading sessions, all children are read to daily. The class book is shared with parents through the curriculum newsletter. We are aware of numerous sources of research evidence which shows how our ‘brains privilege story’ (Willingham) meaning children learn best when attached to a story/text based context. The research around the last SAT’s tests in 2019 where over 25% of Y6 pupils did not achieve the expected standard in reading revealed that vocabulary was a main cause. Therefore, here at Fairburn, we have always chosen to prioritise reading within the school day.

Slots for dedicated reading time, are allocated within the school day. More recently, to further strengthen this approach, we have introduced basing our topics on a text. In F/Y1, learning areas have books within them and children are strongly encouraged to locate information within them. In class 1 & 2, books are carefully chosen and discussed in class as part of the topic lesson. We hope that by adopting this approach, children will practise their comprehension skills throughout the day as opposed to one off comprehension lessons.

Reading for Pleasure

Because of our desire to convey a love of reading to all children, all staff talk enthusiastically about books and often share their own reading preferences. Children see staff referring to books and reading themselves which models their importance.

We host a range of events throughout the year to celebrate books. Here are some examples-

author studies