Reading
At Brampton Ellis we believe that ‘Reading is Freedom’, as being able to read allows children to access all areas of their learning. Reading opens up doors not only to imagine and take you to new places, but it also allows you to read around subjects and learn more information.
Therefore, we drive reading through all areas of our curriculum and we pride ourselves on being a reading school. This is achieved through a strong and passionate team, who develop an understanding of children’s literature, so they are able to recommend books to the children in their class/across school. Reading is a vital part of our School Improvement Plan and we have worked hard to create a positive reading environment for all children. Reading for Pleasure is a big drive for Brampton Ellis, as it allows children to listen to exciting and engaging stories and gives children opportunities to recommend books to their peers.
Reading lessons are taught in stages:
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Stage 1 – Children begin their reading journey in Nursery (FS1), as they develop listening, vocabulary and speaking skills and are exposed to our Little Wandle Phonics Programme.
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Stage 2 – At the start of Reception (FS2), children fully access our Little Wandle Phonics Programme where they begin to learn that the alphabetic code carries meaning. They begin to blend simple words and by Christmas of the first term in Reception we aim for all children to be reading worded books. Children will then follow the Little Wandle Reading Practice structure, which is as follows: Day 1 – Decoding and orientation; Day 2 – Fluency and prosody; and Day 3 – verbal comprehension questions. The same book is sent home the following week, so children can be successful in their reading. Children continue to follow the Little Wandle Reading Practice structure until they are secure in Phase 5, which we aim to be by the end of Year 1.
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Stage 3 – At the start of Year 2, children will recap Phase 5 to ensure learning has stuck and continue the Little Wandle Reading Practice with a focus on fluency and prosody. By Christmas, we aim for all Year 2 children to have exited the Little Wandle Phonics Programme and move onto Little Wandle Bridge to Spelling. Year 2 children will then move onto Reading Rocketeers, which is a whole class Reading Practice. Reading Rocketeers follows a three-day cycle: Day 1 - reading the text and drawing a picture to show understanding; Day 2 – fluency and expression; and Day 3 – written comprehension questions. Year 2 children also begin our colour banded reading scheme.
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Stage 4 – At KS2, children follow the whole class Guided Reading structure, which is as follows: Day 1 – vocabulary and orientation; Day 2 – Retrieval questions; Day 3/4 – Inference and Deduction questions; Day 4/5 – Cold Comprehensions. Texts and extracts are carefully selected through the use of John Murray Reading Explorers and The Classics. Children continue to read colour banded books.
Assessment for reading is conducted through vigorous Little Wandle Assessments and through the use of ‘Rotherham Reading Grids’.
