The Epiphany School Reading Strategy

Reading matters. It matters emotionally, culturally and educationally to the individual. The Epiphany School believes reading is one of the best tools we can give to our children to shape them into independent and lifelong learners.

Our whole school curriculum intent is designed to meet the following objectives:

• Preparation for next step in education
• Developing passion and finding excellence
• Making a positive contribution to your community

The school reading strategy supports our pupils meeting these objectives by following a carefully planned progression based on the National Curriculum and developing a school culture where reading for pleasure is valued.

Key features of our reading teaching are:

Decoding – Decoding is an early step in the teaching of reading which is taught through a systematic phonics programme. It is a key skill for learning to read that involves breaking down a word into individual phonemes and blending the sounds together to read words.

Fluency – Fluency is about moving from someone who can read words to someone who is a reader.  Bringing meaning to decoding the words on the page requires both automaticity in word recognition and learning the skills that occur when someone is an accomplished reader. The components of fluency are: accuracy, rate and prosody.

Comprehension - Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it and understand its meaning. It relies on two, interconnected abilities: word reading (being able to decode the symbols on the page) and language comprehension (being able to understand the meaning of the words and sentences). Good comprehension is vital if reading is to have a purpose and if a reader is to enjoy what they’re reading.

Reading for pleasure - At the Epiphany School, we consider access to quality text and making time to read as key to supporting children's development as book lovers. These two elements of reading for pleasure underpin the work we do in teaching reading and support us in our quest for children to develop a passion and discover themselves as excellent life-long readers.

Reading at home

The Epiphany School recognises the value of children practising their reading at home. In 2012, the National Literacy Trust published a study stating that children who read outside of the classroom every day were 13 times more likely to read above the expected level for their age.

The DfE suggests children should have access to fully decodable books matched to their secure phonic knowledge in and out of school. In Reception to Year 2, The Epiphany School ensures children have access at home to a matched decodable book and a library book chosen by the child. These books are changed weekly in Reception and Year 1.  During Year 2 children progress onto Little Wandle fluency books. These are sent home for 2 weeks. The school communicates with home using a reading record to track the frequency of reading practise and offer guidance and support as required. Parents are encouraged to read with their children daily.

Children in Year 3 continue to take home Little Wandle fluency books to support their reading development. During Year 4, children progress from the final Little Wandle fluency books to become ‘free readers’.  This means children self-select books of interest to read as part of the reading challenge. 

Reading frequency is incentivised through a variety of rewards:

• Reception to Year 3 - ‘5-star readers’
• Year 4 to 6 – Reading Challenge 

The school publishes a Recommended Reading list to support families in choosing quality text for outside-of-school learning. This list is shared with families through year-group-based letters and is also published on the school website.

Children in Years 3 to 6 complete a comprehension task weekly for homework covering a range of non-fiction, fiction and poetry.

Children who are identified as SEND Support may have a bespoke reading offer to follow at home.

In Practice

Reception and Year 1:

Decoding

Daily Phonics – 20 to 25 mins a day. Whole class.

Additional keep up sessions are timetabled for individuals and small groups, led by the teacher or TA for those pupils who have not yet met expected progress. Ongoing assessment will inform provision for these children which is supported by more formal assessment every three weeks.

Fluency

Accuracy and rate will be targeted through daily whole-class phonics teaching.

Children will read three times per week with a class teacher or TA, focusing on all components of fluency. A decodable book will be matched to children’s secure phonic knowledge, and they will read alongside peers who are also secure with the same knowledge. The expected standard for rate of fluency is 90% of the text.

Timetabled keep-up sessions will be used to target those who need additional practise blending to increase fluency when reading. 

Teachers and TAs will model reading prosody through the Little Wandle group read and the Whole School Reading Spine. The core texts alongside poetry must be shared as a whole class read.

Comprehension

The group read as part of the Little Wandle programme will support children to develop their comprehension learning. 

The Whole School Reading Spine details core text and poetry which must be shared as a whole class read. In Reception this will be supplemented with other texts to support the EYFS Literacy education programme. 

Year 2:

Decoding

During the Autumn term, Year 2 children will complete a review of Phase 5 phonics. In the Spring term, the focus now turns to the Little Wandle spelling program, which builds on the phonetic code that children are already familiar with.

Phonics instruction will be tailored to meet the needs of individual children who have not yet reached the expected standard. This includes those who did not pass the National Year 1 Phonics Screening Check and those who have not met the progress expectations set by the Little Wandle program.

This additional support will be provided by the teacher or a trained TA and will be conducted in either one-on-one or small group settings. Daily "keep up" sessions are scheduled in addition to regular whole-class spelling teaching.

Fluency

Children will read 3 times per week with a class teacher or TA with a focus on all components of fluency (approximately 20-30 minute session). When ready, in the Spring term children will begin the Little Wandle fluency programme. A chapter book will be matched to their reading rate and accuracy and children will read alongside peers who are also secure with the same knowledge. The expected standard for rate of fluency varies for each level of the text.

Those children who are identified as not making progress with fluency will be supported through keep up phonics sessions. These timetabled keep up sessions will be used to target those who need additional practise blending in order to increase fluency when reading. 

Teachers and TA will model reading prosody through the Whole School Reading Spine which could be an echo read or reading for mileage. The Whole School Reading Spine details core text and poetry which must be shared as a whole class read. Weekly plans will map out time needed for each core text/poetry to also support comprehension learning.

Comprehension

The group read as part of the Little Wandle programme will support children to develop their comprehension learning. 

Teachers will plan lessons which will be based on the core text from the Whole School Reading Spine and other texts which support their wider curriculum. Learning will be planned using the key objectives from the reading medium term plan.

Year 3

Decoding

Teaching of phonics will be bespoke to individual children who have not met expected standard. This means those who did not pass the National Year 1 re -take Phonics Screening Check in Year 2 and/or those who did not meet the expectations of progress set by the Little Wandle programme. This additional support will be provided by the teacher or a trained TA and will be conducted in either one-on-one or small group settings. Daily "keep up" sessions are scheduled in addition to regular whole-class spelling teaching.

Fluency

Children will read 3 times per week with a class teacher or TA with a focus on all components of fluency (approximately 20-30 minute session). A chapter book will be matched to children’s reading rate and accuracy. Children will read alongside peers who are also secure with the same knowledge. The expected standard for rate of fluency varies for each level of the text.

Those children who are identified as not making progress with fluency will be supported through keep up phonics sessions. These timetabled keep up sessions will be used to target those who need additional practise blending in order to increase fluency when reading. 

Teachers and TA will model reading prosody through the Whole School Reading Spine which could be an echo read or reading for mileage. The Whole School Reading Spine details core text and poetry which must be shared as a whole class read. Weekly plans will map out time needed for each core text/poetry to also support comprehension learning.

Comprehension

The group read as part of the Little Wandle programme will support children to develop their comprehension learning. 

Comprehension will be taught each week as part of the English curriculum and based on the core text. Learning will be planned using the key objectives from the reading medium term plan.

Year 4

Decoding

Children not secure using phonic knowledge to decode will be supported via SEND Support. These children are identified as having not met the expected standard set by Little Wandle. This work will be detailed on individual children’s provision maps.

Fluency

Children who are identified as not meeting the required standard for fluency will be targeted through small group reading to be delivered three times a week by the teacher or teaching assistant using the Little Wandle fluency programme.

Comprehension

The group read as part of the Little Wandle programme will support children to develop their comprehension learning. 

Comprehension will be taught each week as part of the English curriculum and based on their core text. Learning will be planned using the key objectives from the reading medium term plan.

Year 5 and 6

Decoding

Children not secure using phonic knowledge to decode will be supported via SEND Support. These children are identified as having not met the expected standard set by Little Wandle. This work will be detailed on individual children’s provision maps.

Fluency

Children who are identified as not meeting the required standard for fluency will be targeted through small group reading to be delivered three times a week by the teacher or teaching assistant using the Little Wandle fluency programme.

Comprehension

Comprehension will be taught each week as part of the English curriculum and based on their core text. Learning will be planned using the key objectives from the reading medium term plan.

Reading for Pleasure

“Students who read for pleasure, make significantly more progress in vocabulary, and maths than children who read very little” (Sullivan and Brown, 2013).

The Epiphany School acknowledge the value of developing children’s love of reading to meet our whole school curriculum intent. The school promote Reading for Pleasure, predominately through the selection of high-quality text which is mapped out throughout Whole School Reading Spine. The quality text offer is expanded through individual class libraries. The curriculum dictates that teachers set aside time to share challenging texts in order to support all elements of reading teaching and promotes maximising other reading opportunities which inspire and excite children about literature which underpins our intent.

The school use the library as an essential component in the reading-for-pleasure agenda. There are weekly timetabled opportunities for children to visit and have book chat. The library is also open after school three times a week for children to visit with their families. Through a wide variety of high-quality texts, children are able to develop a breadth of reading across areas of interest. 

We also promote reading for pleasure with spaces dedicated for reading called Book Corners across the school. In Years 4 to 6 children are encouraged to take part in a termly reading challenge which promotes a range of genres and authors, including non-fiction, fiction and poetry. Success of this challenge is celebrated through reading badges, award ceremonies and book related visits.

The school reading challenge targets children in Years 4 to 6 to encourage sustained, voluntary reading. We aim for children to read at least 6 books per term to build good reading habits.

Assessment

Children in Year 1 to Year 4 will take part in formal summative assessments annually using NFER reading comprehension tests in the Summer Term.

Children in Year 5 will take part in formal summative assessments annually using a past Year 6 SATs paper during the Summer Term.

Children in Year 6 will be formally assessed each term using a Year 6 SATs paper.

The school uses Little Wandle’s Fluency Assessment to assess pupils’ reading fluency from Year 1 to Year 6. Little Wandle fluency assessments begin in Year 1 in the second half of the Spring term and in the Summer term for pupils reading Phase 5 books. In Autumn 2 of Year 2 children will take the initial Fluency Assessment 1. This will give them a reading rate to place them within a fluency level. Provision to support those who are not yet reading fluently will be identified in provision maps and teachers’ planning. Children in Year 3 who are no longer having phonics instruction will also complete an initial assessment to determine their level. In Year 2 and 3 class teachers will carry out on-going Little Wandle fluency assessments for each level of reading to determine reading speed and accuracy to move up through the levels.

Phonics for children in Reception and Year 1 will be assessed half termly using the Little Wandle assessment materials. This 1:1 assessment will inform planning and provision for the whole class as well as for individual and group ‘keep up’ sessions. In June of Year 1, pupils take the national Phonics Screening Check and those who didn’t pass in Year 1 will retake in the summer of Year 2. Pupils who did not pass the screen check will have further support in phonics detailed in their provision map and teacher planning.

The school track children’s progress across the reading book scheme through half termly trackers. Once children complete the Little Wandle programme, they move onto Little Wandle fluency. These books range from level 1-10. Books 1-5 are aimed at children in Year 2. These texts are fully decodable once children have been taught the related grapheme-phoneme-correspondences from the fluency programme. Books 5-10 are aimed at children in Year 3 and beyond. These texts are not fully decodable and provide more challenging aspects for readers.

Catch up and SEND assessment

If children in Year 2 and beyond have not finished phonics instruction or keep up they will remain on Little Wandle following the Rapid Catch Up Programme. They will have 7+ books which are phonetically decodable and age appropriate. Once children have worked their way through decodable books they will move to the fluency books starting at level 1. Children with significant gaps will follow the SEND programme. Children will also be monitored through on-going assessment by a familiar adult. This will inform next steps and provide a matched book level.