English - Reading
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”— Dr Seuss
Reading Lead - Mrs Rachael Nash
Early Reading Lead - Mrs Michelle Lawford
Reading
St Dennis Primary Academy is passionate about reading and storytelling. It is at the heart of our curriculum because we know that the capacity to learn, and to enjoy learning, goes hand in hand with reading skill. Throughout a child’s journey through our school, we strive to nurture a lifelong reader; teaching word reading and language comprehension as children need both of these elements to become good readers.
It is our intention to ensure that by the end of their primary education all children are able to read fluently, confidently and with understanding, in any subject, as well as have a love for reading. We aim to develop the Big Five; phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, which are the interconnected and underlying components of a good reader. (The National Reading Panel Report, 2000).
We also aim for children at St Dennis Primary Academy to love reading, choose to engage in a wide variety of texts and be motivated to continue reading and become life-long readers. This is because children who read more, and are therefore good at reading, learn more, expand their vocabulary and become academically more able.
Implementation
We provide a language rich environment through which adults talk with children throughout the day and provide a variety of ways for children to formulate answers in pairs and groups, before feeding back. We employ a 'no hands up' approach to provide more opportunities for learning and talk.
Reading Rewards
Throughout the year, certificates are awarded for children who have been impressive in Book or Novel study lessons. There is also a whole class Accelerated Reader certificate for the class who have accumulated the most words in the half term and additional individual certificates that are awarded by our Reading Champion. Our Librarian awards a 'Book Worm' certificate for the child who has stood out in their visits to the Library. Any winners receive a book as a prize! These reading achievements are shared in a dedicated reading newsletter.
A more recent addition has been Book Bingo! To encourage children to read more of a range of texts, books that are age appropriate are chosen on a topic or theme. Children can then click the links on the Book Bingo sheet to listen to the stories, or borrow them from our library, as a book for pleasure. Once they have enjoyed them all, children receive a special book mark as a prize!
Our aim is for books and texts to be across the Five Plagues of Reading Spines to broaden the range of texts children enjoy. For more information on these, please click here.
RWI videos for parents and carers
Assessment
RWI assessments are taken half termly and used to inform future groupings sothat children are moved swiftly through the programme.
Accelerated Reader Star tests are taken half termly to ensure children are reading at the correct ZPD levels, therefore enabling them to read books with content and ability matched.
Termly PIRA tests in all classes, with diagnostic reports to enable teachers to plan next steps in learning.
The reading of common exception words is tracked across the school, to support fluency.
SEND
Impact
Through our approach to reading our children are able to:
Read a wide range of texts
Understand and enjoy a wide range of genres
Decode words fluently
Possess a broad and deep vocabulary knowledge
Read fluently, accurately and with appropriate expression
Develop reading stamina
Ask appropriate questions
Read for pleasure
How does English promote British Values?
As a school, we value and celebrate living in, and being part of, Britain. Our English storytelling texts are often centred around key historical British themes, events and people such as the monarchy in Year 2, Shakespearean texts in Year 5 and World War II in Year 6.
Democracy
Children have many opportunities to have their voices heard and share their opinions during English lessons at St Dennis Primary Academy. They take turns and listen to others’ answers and views when discussing books or texts. They respect the right of every individual to have their own thoughts and voices heard. Children write their own speeches for presentations to discuss current issues.
Rules and Laws
Through English, the importance of rules and laws are reinforced in different ways. There are clear rules for Novel Study, which are shared before each session. There are non-negotiable expectations for written work. Children at St Dennis Primary Academy are rewarded not only for achievement in English, but for behaviour and general adherence to the school or class rules. Rewards are given in the form of certificates and prizes for Reading. Children’s achievements are recognised during our weekly Star assembly and often feature English specific accomplishments.
Individual Liberty
We promote freedom of choice in English lessons and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs. Through the provision of a safe, supportive environment, we provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely. For example, choices about what learning challenge or activity they will complete in English, choices about how they record their ideas when planning to write and choices about which writing aids they will select to help scaffold and support their compositions. In Accelerated Reader, our children are encouraged to independently choose their own reading book to take home. They also understand that with rights come responsibilities and they must take a pride in their English work and look after their book bags and reading books.
Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
At St Dennis Primary Academy, we are proud to promote and celebrate different backgrounds and beliefs. We provide pupils with the opportunity to learn how to argue and defend points of view in English. We choose stories from different faiths and cultures to read, such as the storytelling text ‘Monkey see, Monkey do,’ in Year 2 which is a story from Mali, West Africa and in the Novel Study text ‘Rain Player’ by David Wisniewski, which is based on ancient Mayan beliefs, studied by Year 5.
SMSC
Spiritual - English supports spiritual development by engaging children with poetry, fiction and drama. Children explore the feelings and values found in a wide range of genres, through discussion and debate. For example, when studying the novel ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar in Year 6, it encourages the discussion of the difference between good and bad, considering the impact of conscience. The study of texts like this gives children the opportunity to think about the consequences of right and wrong behaviour, applying this to their own lives. Creative writing and the study of poetry provides an opportunity to reflect on their own beliefs and establish their own relationship with language. Writing is expressive and allows for the freedom to be creative and experiment.
Moral - English supports moral development by encouraging children to look, discuss and evaluate a range of social and moral issues found in genres. During the study of fiction, children are able to analyse characters and events to explore the consequences of negative actions and are given the opportunity to consider different perspectives and empathise with other characters. For instance, when Year 5 study Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, it poses a range of topics and themes for debate such as the dangers of power and ambition. Novel Studies in upper KS2 deal with moral questions, such as disability, race and homelessness. Writing non-fiction texts such as newspaper articles, leaflets, reports and reviews help children to apply fiction to real life scenarios.
Cultural - English supports social development by helping children to understand how written and spoken language has changed over time and also social attitudes to language. Debate is an important aspect of the subject, giving logical arguments with respect, rationality and thoughtfulness. English lessons promote cooperation and teamwork through being able to work in groups, listening to presentations and asking questions. Real issues encourage students to think about the world outside of school and give opinions on topics that may affect them in the future for example, in Year 4 when learning about the Amazon Rainforest, children are required to take on various roles and argue a point of view.
Social - English supports the cultural development of children by exposing them to a wide range of written and spoken language from a range of cultures. Shakespeare, poetry and non-fiction texts enable students to explore their own and other cultures. The poetry built into the English long-term plan across every year, requires pupils to build an understanding of what culture and tradition is and means to people. English Literature requires pupils to appreciate and understand the works of writers from different cultures.
