Reading
Inspiring Life Long Readers
At Dosthill Primary Academy we promise to inspire and ignite our learners so that they develop a love of reading. Throughout all aspects of learning, reading is explored in exciting and meaningful ways. The reading diet that we promote is varied and motivating and incorporates:
- daily teaching of systematic synthetic phonics from Reception to Year Two;
- teachers read a class book daily so as to explore books beyond a child’s own reading age and to open the eyes of our learners to the vast array of book types, authors and genres that will tempt them to become lifelong readers;
- shared reading during English and Reading lessons of a text encourages all learners to read out loud with appropriate fluency and expression as modelled simultaneously by the class teacher;
- comprehension skills teaching also takes place in order to promote learners understanding of the text read in both an oral and written form;
- incidental writing and linked writing to the text;
- guided reading sessions where the teacher explicitly explores texts in depth with a group of learners who have the opportunity to read and respond to the text;
- planned and incidental reading throughout the day such as: independent reading, paired reading, buddy reading and daily ERIC (Everyone Reading in Class) along with cross curricular research using including i-Pads/internet and books;
- using high quality texts to stimulate and promote children’s writing skills;
- reading skills, based on the reading domains which are planned and taught using the VIPERS approach.
Key Stage 1
Key Stage 2
Comprehension and Assessment
Throughout the school, learners are encouraged not only to decode words but to explore and understand text. This is achieved through whole class reading, guided reading and paired reading activities as well as written comprehension. We use the National Curriculum year group reading objectives to plan and teach reading effectively.
Progress in reading is assessed during their on-going daily teaching and through more summative forms of assessment: termly assessment points using the Fierté Reading Expectations and through the use of a standardised reading assessment test called PiRA – Progress in Reading Assessment. For both assessments, learners are provided with a standardised scaled score. Teachers convert the scaled scores into a reading age to allocate a book banded reading levelled text. In addition, ongoing teacher assessment during guided reading ensures that planning and books are specific and precisely matched to learners’ needs and next steps.
The Dosthill Primary Academy English Spine
The reading diet that we offer learners is varied and motivational. Each year group has an English Spine which is comprised of a balance of: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, guided reading and reading for pleasure books that are specific to each year group. The genres for each term on the reading spine match the genre focus taught in the Talk for Writing lessons. Every child takes home at least one book banded reading scheme book (where necessary matched to children’s phonic knowledge) as well as a free choice of books from the library. We also use texts such as comics, newspapers, eBooks, information leaflets, brochures and so on to add depth to the reading which our learners experience. Learner conferencing also helps us when ordering new books. Our library is well stocked with a wide range of authors and genres to tempt our readers. We encourage parents to read to and with their children and for all reading outside of school to be recorded each day in the reading record which is looked at weekly by teachers so that a comment can be made to promote a dialogue about reading between children, parents and teachers. Positive point rewards are provided for each reading entry.
The following reading schemes are used at Dosthill Primary Academy:
- Oxford Reading Tree (Reception to Year 6)
- Read, Write Inc Phonics
- Collins Big Cat Readers (Key Stage One and Two)
- Library/real books alongside the scheme book.
- Badger Books – various popular authors/texts (Reception to Year 2)
- Pearson Bug Club – phonic books (Reception to Year 2)
- National Geographic non-fiction texts (Reception to Year 2)
- All Aboard (Years 3-6)
- High Quality whole class texts – various
Home Reading Expectations
At Dosthill Primary Academy, we are looking forward to working together with you to develop your child's love of books and reading. Children who are confident and secure readers excel in all areas due to the impact this has on their imagination, self-esteem, and access to the curriculum. In partnership, we will try to ensure that your child becomes a confident reader and all the successes that this will bring them.
The Home Reading Teacher/Parent/Child Agreement and an example Reading Diary can be downloaded below. Mrs Burke has made a video to explain the Reading Expectations which can be viewed here:
If you have any questions or require support with Reading, please contact Mrs Burke at sburke@dosthill.org