English - Reading
Every child a reader by 7!
'All children will read fluently with confidence and enjoyment.'
At St. Columba’s reading is at the centre of our curriculum. Our vision is to foster a lifelong love of reading amongst all of our pupils therefore providing them with the reading skills which will successfully allow them to access the breadth and richness of our curriculum and improve their communication and language skills.
Implementation
- Staff who are passionate, avid readers themselves.
- Whole Class Guided Reading lessons 4 times weekly.
- English lessons with a focus on reading high quality texts.
- Individual reading experiences for less fluent readers.
- Echo reading to individuals, focused groups and whole classes by an adult.
- Class Reading Walls to motivate, encourage and reward reading at home.
- Reading for Pleasure areas in every class.
- Exposure to Recommended Reads for every year group.
- Weekly Book Recommendations by staff and pupils.
- Weekly visits to both our KS1 and KS2 Libraries by all classes using our electronic library systems.
- Our Reading Ambassadors promote reading for pleasure across the school.
- Our Reading Ambassadors open, run and organise the libraries during break and lunch times.
- ‘Secret’ Reading Clubs once a week for reluctant readers.
- FS and KS1 story sessions with parents.
- World Book Day celebrated annually with a focus on reading.
- Scholastic Book Fair visits twice a year.
- Author visits
- Invite parents to ‘Share a story’ together in classes.
- Exposure to the Classics.
- Annual visit from M&M Theatrical Production linked to children’s narratives.
Impact
The children will:
- Be competent readers
- Foster a love of reading for life
- Recommend books to their peers
- Have a thirst for reading different genres
- Participate in discussions about books
- Know a variety of authors
- Most pupils will be working at or above age-related expectations. Pupils below age-related expectations will make a good level of progress from their starting point.
Principles of good teaching and learning in Reading at St Columba’s
- Promoting a love of reading .
- Pre-reading with a focus on ‘Book Talk’.
- Vocabulary discussion.
- Decoding the book.
- Reading for speed, fluency and accuracy.
- Teacher modelling of reading and echo reading.
- High level questioning to deepen understanding and challenge.
- Reading comprehension is taught using the Reading Dog Domains.
- A 3 x weekly focus on the specific reading skills of retrieval, vocabulary and inference.
Reading Dogs
We have used the content domains for reading from the National Curriculum and created Reading Dogs that match each domain. These dogs are introduced in EYFS and 'grow' from being puppies right through to adult dogs in Key Stage 2. This allows children to identify the dogs and in turn, identify the skill they are learning in their guided reading lessons.
key stage one reading domains.docx
key stage two reading domains.docx
Reading Plus
At St Columba's, pupils in Years 3 to 6 use Reading Plus, an innovative online programme designed to enhance reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. This tailored platform adapts to each child's reading level, providing engaging and appropriately challenging texts that foster a love of reading while building essential literacy skills. By using Reading Plus regularly, pupils develop the confidence and ability to read more effectively, both in school and beyond. The programme also enables teachers to monitor progress and provide targeted support, ensuring every child achieves their full reading potential.