Reading

At Bywell Junior School we believe that reading is an essential life skill which underpins all areas of the curriculum and our core values. We are committed to providing the children with a literacy rich environment, high quality texts and inspiring learning opportunities which will enable them to gain a lifelong enjoyment of reading, books as well as developing their own personal values.

We encourage our pupils to progress through all the levels of our home/school reading scheme (this includes a wide range of text types – fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, classics etc.). Once the children have progressed through this scheme, we believe the children have the independence to choose appropriate texts that interest them and challenge them as readers, developing their sense of justice and compassion – as well as reading texts that have been recommended to them either by their peers or by an adult.

Evidence shows that children’s ability to read, process and understand texts underpins their ability to access the whole of the curriculum. This confidence and competence when applying these skills will engage our pupils love and thirst for learning and will help them grow as learners who show endurance, compassion, are creative, independent and resilient.

At Bywell we aim to listen to all our children read every week, we encourage them to speak clearly and with fluency. We want them to apply their knowledge of phonics in order to decode unfamiliar words with increasing accuracy and speed. Our pupils are encouraged to read and speak with expression, clarity and confidence – through their reading, when in class, around school in assemblies (when allowed) and to visitors. Through reading our pupils develop a good knowledge of vocabulary and grammar and are constantly invited to ask for the meanings of words they are unsure of.

At Bywell our children are introduced to a range of fiction and non-fiction genres through their English lessons, Reading for Pleasure/Listening for Pleasure lessons and reading comprehension activities. This range of high-quality texts and the work that takes place allows for meaningful, thoughtful class discussions and allows the children to develop a sense of empathy and compassion. It also allows the children the opportunity to use the language structures and vocabulary in their own work.

The children at Bywell have many opportunities to read and discuss texts. Each classroom has a well-stocked library which is periodically restocked with diverse authors, texts that question viewpoints and popular new releases – this is through discussions with members of each class. Children also regularly visit the school library where there is a vast variety of books. Time is dedicated to each part of the week for the children to ’Drop it and read’ and it is our aim to listen to each child every week. Throughout the year a love of reading is promoted by author visits, librarian visits, World Book Day etc.

• Children are provided with books that match and support their phonics skill and ability .
• Ensure children who are independent readers choose a variety of high-quality texts that are age appropriate and challenging.
• Children will be encouraged to read with greater fluency and be able to use their phonic strategies to decode unknown words as well as ask for the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary.
• Show endurance by reading for more prolonged periods of time and for a range of purposes.
• Use ‘Pupil Voice’ as a way of capturing the children’s views about reading and how it can be developed.
• Children will be invited to read to an adult on a weekly basis, this is a time when expression can be developed, the text can be discussed and meanings of words can be shared. There will also be a time to read independently every day.
• Three times a week, all children will systematically be taught reading comprehension skills.
• Children will have the opportunity to Listen for Pleasure as their class teacher reads a book three times a week.
• Each week the children will have ‘Talk Time’, this is where books are discussed and promoted.
• At different times over the academic year there will be various activities planned to promote reading. (World Book Day, Author visits, assemblies, competitions).

• All staff have changed their reading areas to reflect advice given in the new reading framework.

1. The number of books has been reduced (To be rotated at different points in the year)
2. Books have been sorted into sections e.g. Short chapter books, graphic novels etc.
3. Books have been displayed as forward facing.

• Class novels have been discussed as year groups and a different selection of books have been ordered.
• All staff have been given training on the use of Cracking Comprehension.
• All staff have been reminded/ introduced to our school reading records.
• Talk time has been introduced to each class each week, where (in the first instance) staff talk about books, why they have been chosen, what they may choose next etc.

• A trial of ‘Fixing Fluency’ approach to reading has been undertaken in 6GE/RW. This has proved to be very successful with the children enjoying the quality texts and the variety of questions.
• Children have had the opportunity to choose their own class novel (from a given range) across the year groups. This has meant the children have felt more ownership of the books read.
• A book fair was held. A total of £1800 was sold with the school benefitting from £1000 worth of books.
• The post of Reading Ambassador was opened up to the year 6 children. 26 children applied for the post. 7 children were chosen. These children have been trained to use the computer in the library, how to organize the books and how to look after and change the books in their respective classes. The Reading Ambassadors also held 5 competitions during the book fair and chose winners as well as helping out at the fair.
• Each class was given £50 to spend on books at add to their class library, they were able to choose books that they felt their class was lacking.
• Pupil Voice was undertaken – All the children questioned enjoyed reading and thought they were good at it. All of them said that they read both at home and at school. They all liked listening to their teacher read at the end of the day. The children spoke about the reading areas in their classrooms and their enjoyment of the library. They thought we had a good selection of books.

• The Reading Ambassadors have met to decide on how they could improve their class libraries, they have been given the task of changing books and making the areas look appealing.
• The Reading Ambassadors have been maintaining the library – they have made new labels for all the shelves – Both of these roles have been taken on with pride.
• I attended an English Hub meeting where we reflected on phonics screening before discussing fluency and looking at the EEF Reading house.
• World Book Day was celebrated. The children were invited to dress up as a character. The costumes were shared in each unit. Some of the children took part in an interactive lesson. The children were also invited to take part in ‘The Great Bywell Book Swap’ This was where all children were invited to bring in an age appropriate book that they had read and no longer wanted and could swap with children in their year group.
• A competition was held to design a front cover for a book – as well as an extreme reading photo competition. Many children took part, it was judged by the Reading Ambassadors and the winners were given a voucher for the book fair.
• A book fair was held on two evenings after school. Parents had the option to buy online or attend in person. It was well attended, Around £1000 was made, with 40% going to school.
• A staff meeting was held about reading. The ‘Fixing Fluency’ approach was introduced to all staff. This was well received. All teachers are going to be planning and teaching after the Easter holidays.This follows a cycle. On the first day the teacher models a section of text which is then repeated by the children, allowing them to practice expression, pausing, patterns of stress and intonation, phrasing, smoothness and pace. It is also a chance to discuss unknown words. From day 2 reading skills will be taught through VIPERS (Vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarizing). This cycle will be repeated using different sections of the text A variety of texts will be used including poetry, picture books, fiction and non-fiction.

• The Reading Ambassadors were invited to apply for a ‘Reading Blue Peter Badge’ They enjoyed writing book reviews and have being wearing their badges with pride.
• The Reading Ambassadors were allocated sections of the library so that all areas were being kept tidy.
• The Reading Ambassadors met with The OFSTED inspector who reported  ‘The school encourages pupils to develop their love of reading. Pupils excitedly talk about choosing books from the library. They are delighted to discuss their favourite books.’
• Application forms have been given to the Year 5 children who would like to become the new Reading Ambassadors. The 7 children will help decide on who should be allocated the roles.
• A ‘Drop and Read’ walk was undertaken. Every class except two were taking part in it, teachers were seen actively reading.
• Pupil Voice was carried out. Every child questions said they liked to read, they all said they read with their teacher, they enjoyed visiting the library and listening to their teacher read at the end of the day.
• New books were ordered for the library, a variety of books were chosen: graphic novels, picture books, bame books, non- fiction books as well as a selection to replace the well used favourites.
• Library books have been collected in so that the library can be kept tidy, we can see who has lost books and we can use the remainder of our bookfair reward money to plug any gaps.