Reading at Orchard
At Orchard, reading is at the heart of everything we do!
Learning to read is one of the most important skills your child will learn during their time at primary school. At Orchard, we aim to create confident, fluent readers, who have a good understanding of the text they are reading. We hope to foster a love of reading, support children to develop a strong relationship with books and form good reading habits from the very beginning of their reading journey.
Reading Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement
The Teaching of Reading in Early Years and Key Stage 1
In Early Years and Key Stage 1, children are taught to read using the Read Write Inc phonics programme alongside a range of reading strategies that help them to decode unfamiliar words. As children become more fluent in their reading, they are taught comprehension strategies which help to build the foundations for future learning.
Children in Early Years begin with books that are linked to environmental sounds. Once they are taught the RWI set one sounds they take home the Set 1 sounds blending book or Ditty Sheet. Children who have been taught to blend take home RWI books that they have been reading in class, alongside RWI book bag books.
In KS1 English lessons, children will use a core text as a stimulus for learning, closely linked to their humanities topic, to inspire and support their writing. Alongside this text, a range of supplementary materials will be used to develop reading comprehension skills, with children being gently introduced to a variety of reading strategies.
The Teaching of Reading in Key Stage 2
In Key Stage 2, we build on the reading strategies and comprehension skills taught in Key stage 1. Children take part in daily Reading sessions, within their English lessons, which focus on a range of high-quality Fiction and Non-Fiction texts. These are often closely linked to the foundation subjects and wider curriculum.
Every Reading task or session focuses on at least one of the seven reading domains. The seven reading domains are as follows:
Children are given the opportunities to learn and practise skills linked to the reading domains in a wide variety of ways. Children are taught which reading strategies are most useful for each of the domains and have time to work independently; with a partner; in small groups and as a class.
Oxford Reading Buddy
How do we foster a love of reading at Orchard?
Orchard's Recommended Reads
Every year, each class in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 embark on a journey to complete Orchard's Recommended Reads. The children have the opportunity to choose from 60 carefully selected books to read in school and at home.
If anybody manages to read all 60 books for their year group, they receive a Reading Challenge trophy in assembly!
Library Visits
At Orchard, we are incredibly lucky to have an amazing library.
Every class from Nursery to Year 6 has a bi-weekly library slot. In their library time, children choose and loan books and often stay to listen to a story.
"I love visiting the library. It's like our very own bookshop."
Year 5 pupil
Teacher Read Alouds
All classes across school spend time each week listening to their teacher read aloud. This may take place during Reading and Writing lessons, Humanities sessions, PSHE, or through texts linked to current global issues. Teachers may also choose to share a fiction book purely for enjoyment, often as a way to end the school day. These shared reading experiences help to foster a love of reading, broaden pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the world, and expose them to a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.
Teacher Class Swap Sessions
Every half-term the teachers swap classes and share a story with a different group of children. The teachers love swapping classes and getting to share some of their favourite texts with a new class. The children enjoy listening to their visiting teacher and are always really excited to find out who will be joining them next.
Raffle Ticket Reading
Who doesn't love a bit of friendly competition?! In every classroom across school, children are rewarded for their effort and resilience within reading. When reading aloud to the class, 1:1 with an adult or in pairs, children can be rewarded for their effort, progress and enthusiasm. If an adult is particularly impressed they receive a raffle ticket, which goes into the class pot. At the end of each half-term a winner from each class is chosen and they winners visit 'Darling Reads' in Horbury to choose a book of their own to take home and keep.
