Reading at St. Joseph's

“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books.” Roald Dahl. 

Reading Lead- Mrs J Kelby

Intent:

At St. Joseph’s we want all of our pupils to develop a deep love of reading; we want them to read a wide range of high-quality texts often. We provide opportunities to teach them to read with fluency, expression and understanding. The choice of texts build on complexity through each Key Stage and will enable our students to gain a rich and expressive vocabulary.  Reading is the most effective way of unlocking their potential across all subjects and will ensure they are able to communicate effectively and empathise deeply. We want our pupils to understand our diverse and vibrant literary history. In our BD5 context, we aim to make sure that the books we choose across the curriculum support the children both in gaining cultural capital through knowledge of the classics and reflect the many different nationalities, languages and cultures that make up our school community.

Being a great reader is essential to being a great learner so we aspire for all our children to read fluently, confidently and with full understanding of what they read. 

Our Whole School Reading Spine:

Implementation: 

Reading is taught through whole class guided reading which takes place three to four times each week. In these lessons, we explore the magic of the English language and how it can excite our imaginations. Through close reading, teachers explicitly model how to read with expression, retrieve information make inferences and then unlock the layers of meaning that a good quality text can hold. Our pupils are encouraged to read a range of high-quality stories and non-fiction books; teachers read aloud to pupils and allow them to be immersed in the very best modern and classical fiction. All pupils have access to our school library and they can borrow books to take home each week.  We have a team of Reading Ambassadors who make recommendations to their peers and suggest books for our library. They plan whole school reading events for school, such as World Book Day and a Readathon.

Reading is assessed through the Salford Reading tests which give children a reading age. This helps teachers to plan sessions which meet the starting points of all pupils. Reading at home and at school is an essential part of pupils being successful readers. Reading is also assessed through reading comprehension tests on a half termly basis. These are used to inform teachers' planning and to address gaps in pupils' reading skills. 

What can parents do to support their children?  

Reading at home with your child is extremely important in supporting your child’s reading development. Read anything! Newspapers, picture books, books in your home language are all great ways of reading with your child. You can join a local library (https://www.bradford.gov.uk/libraries/find-your-local-library/city-library/) to borrow books that your child would like to read.  

www.lovereadingforkids.com is a great website for children to read extracts of books before borrowing or buying them.  

Our chosen reading scheme is Little Wandle. https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk