Yew Tree Community School is determined that every child will learn to read. We want our children to be fluent, confident readers. They will be exposed to a wealth of stories, poems and non-fiction to develop their vocabulary, language comprehension and create a genuine love of reading. We work to inspire them to become life-long readers who enjoy books and have a desire to read for pleasure.

Reading Practice Sessions with Fully Decodable Books

Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 read books that are matched closely to their individual reading ability and are fully decodable.  During each of the reading practice sessions, there is a different focus: Day 1 & 2 – decoding; Day 3 – prosody (the use fluency and expression when reading aloud); and Day 4 & 5 – comprehension.  Our reading book scheme is Collins Big Cat which is linked to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised SSP programme. 

Reading after completion of Fully Decodable Books (Y2-Y6)

Reading is taught daily through either Focussed or Shared Reading lessons. We use a range of teaching strategies and resources at the different stages of a child’s learning. Towards the end of Year Two children are introduced to the reading domains, through the VIPERS approach, so that they are ready for their next stage of learning.

Focussed Reading (Decoding and Oral Comprehension)

In focussed reading lessons, books are selected to match children’s current attainment. The texts develop blending, word recognition and fluency skills, as well as developing children’s comprehension at an age-appropriate level. We ensure that all children have access to a wide range of texts: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, play scripts, graphic novels etc. We ensure children are confident at reading, and re-reading, texts to ensure they read with intonation and expression

Shared Reading (Written Comprehension)

During our Shared Reading lessons, we use a variety of quality texts so that children are appropriately challenged in both word reading and comprehension. Children re-read the same text in order to develop fluency, prosody and comprehension. During these lessons, teachers firstly share a text (either fiction, non-fiction or poetry) with the whole class.  The text is then explored in greater depth with the teacher modelling how to answer a range of different questions linked to the following skills:

• Explaining vocabulary within context
• Retrieval of information
• Summarising whole texts or paragraphs  
• Inferring meaning and justifying their answers 
• Predicting what will happen based on what has happened before
• Comparing, contrasting or commenting on a text
• Identifying and explain how meaning is enhanced through author’s choice 

Home Readers

Children regularly take home reading books, which are recorded in their individual reading diaries. Classes have individual libraries and children select books to take home to share with their family. Parents are also encouraged to read a wider range of texts with their child. We recognise the importance of parental involvement, and invite parents to workshops to support their reading with their child at home.

Reading for Pleasure  

A love of reading ethos is promoted throughout the school. It is how we choose to start our day throughout the school. Below are some of the activities that regularly take place within school in these sessions.

• Teachers and pupils recommend books from their book corners.
• Pupils discussing and sharing views/opinions about books read with each other and their teacher.
• Well-organised book corners in each classroom.
• Celebration days such as World Book Day.

Read Aloud Sessions

Teachers share a class book and read aloud to pupils on a daily basis. The 'read aloud' books are used to engage children and create writing opportunities when appropriate. The texts are carefully selected to challenge children’s thinking, engage their interest and broaden their understanding. We use our class novels to help to create a vocabulary-rich environment, which also leads to improved outcomes.

Vocabulary

Developing children's vocabulary is essential, and therefore, all curriculum subjects have a clear bank of vocabulary built into their progression maps to ensure that language is introduced and rehearsed at appropriate intervals to minimise a vocabulary gap, and ensure that out children develop word breadth.