Reading at Millfields

At Millfields CE Primary School we have developed a strong reading culture and placed reading at the heart of our school curriculum.

We know that the ability to read affects children’s ability to access every area of the curriculum and has a huge impact on their life chances in the future. We ensure that we teach effective phonics right from the start and provide children with the body of knowledge needed to be able to read and pronounce words aloud. However, we also understand that phonics alone will not teach children what words mean and to be able to read fluently and it is for this reason that we not only teach children how to read but how to love reading.

We are very proud of our new school library that we have developed with the support of the Foyle Foundation. Each class has a timetabled library session where teachers promote authors, themes and a wide variety of books. This enables our children to develop their knowledge of authors and books in a well-resourced environment and our highly skilled staff are able to share their expert knowledge and help children to develop a love of reading. We encourage our families to use the library with their children and continue the enjoyment of books at home.

We believe that the one of greatest gifts that an adult can give to a child is to read to them. We have a daily reading for pleasure session where children are able to listen to an expert reader for enjoyment. Staff plan these sessions using our ‘100 books of Millfields CE Primary School’ as well as sharing other books that they know their individual classes will love.

There is a strong link with children’s academic success and their experiences of reading at home and we encourage our families to support us with this. Reading and talking about books is truly one of the most important things you can do with your child and it has the following benefits:

Helps children to understand words and sentences

Helps children to develop a wide range of vocabulary

Helps children to develop listening comprehension skills.

We run reading and phonics workshops throughout the year and we encourage families to join us.

How We Teach Reading

F2 and KS1

· In addition the daily phonics lesson children at the early stages of reading complete reading practice sessions with a Little Wandle trained member of staff.

· Children across Foundation 2, Year 1, Year 2 (and beyond if appropriate) apply their phonics knowledge by using a full matched decodable reader in a small group reading practice session.

These sessions are around 15 minutes long and happen three times a week. There are approximately 6 children in a group.

The sessions follow the model set out in Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.

The children then take the same book home at the end of the week to ensure success is shared with the family.

In addition, children will also be given an unseen book, closely matched to their phonics ability to practice reading at home.

In Foundation 2 these sessions start in week 4. Children who are not decoding, do a little blending lesson, following the model set out in Little Wandle Letters and Sound Revised.

All children in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 will also take home a reading for pleasure book, known as a bedtime story. These books are beyond children's reading ability but are for you to share and enjoy together as a family.

Key Stage 2

We are using the Whole Class Reading approach to encourage all children to enjoy books and reading. Whole class reading sessions take place 3 times a week. We use the Ashley Booth approach to support our children to develop reading skills and develop their vocabulary. One of the weekly sessions is skill specific to allow teachers to target different reading skills.

Once children have progressed through the phonics books they move onto colour bands. In Key Stage 2, children are regularly assessed to ensure that they progress through the book bands quickly and become free readers as soon as possible. Children take home book bands books and are encouraged to change them regularly. As children get more confident with their reading, you may find that they want to read more independently. When reading at home with a confident reader, we encourage parents to ask questions to check in on understanding.

For more information on reading at Millfields CE please use the links below.

For parents who may need more support with this, please speak to your child’s class teacher who will be happy to help and support you.