Pupils are encouraged to read for pleasure and have access to a variety of stimulating, high quality books in designated reading areas around school. Each class has an attractive book corner containing a range of fiction and non-fiction books tailored to their current topics, as well as a range of books written by their year group’s focus author. Year Group Book Spots and the Reading Room further promote and encourage reading for pleasure with a collection of contemporary and classic texts that are replenished and updated throughout the year. All year groups enjoy daily storytimes. This love of reading begins in EYFS where children share books and tell stories on a daily basis with independent tasks and reading games planned in all curriculum areas to practise early reading skills consistently.
We base our classroom reading teaching around the reading domains in the National Curriculum. Children in Years 1- 6 use a strategy called VIPERS to help them comprehend texts. Daily phonics sessions in EYFS and KS1 enable pupils to develop good decoding skills and become fluent readers. We maintain fidelity to the Little Wandle Phonics Scheme due to high quality staff professional learning.
All pupils take books home to share with their parent/carer with a reading diary or journal which informs them how they may support their child’s reading. KS1 pupils take home phonetically decodable books until they move onto the Accelerated Reader Scheme which motivates pupils to select their own books within their reading level. On completing their book, pupils take an online comprehension test (quiz) to assess their understanding of the book. Targets are set based on quiz performance, number of words read and points achieved.
At The Oval School we have a community of enthusiastic, fluent and independent readers who enjoy reading. Pupils have a broad range of reading skills they can apply across the wider curriculum subjects. They have the opportunity to read a wide range of texts and transfer ideas learned into their writing. The importance of reading in the wider world beyond school is understood by our pupils.
