Reading
Mrs Hawkshaw is the reading leader in school and is responsible for reading lessons, our really important links with parents to encourage reading at home and the school library.
Overview
A reading rich environment that fosters a love of reading in our pupils. Inviting classroom ‘book nooks’ with a wide selection of books of varying genre and difficulty. An extensive library hub which is updated regularly and enables self-selection and scanning to monitor choices. Classroom reading walls featuring reading strategies which encourage thinking readers.
Early synthetic phonics system – Read Write inc. The system is used from on entry for pupils as a key to unlock sound, word and sentence building. Phonics teaching is used until the individual pupil is enjoying reading fluency and ready to move onto our school spelling system.
Reading teaching consists of reading lessons featuring carefully selected class texts and extracts which provide a varying diet for our pupils. Teacher modelling, shared read aloud think aloud sessions (to encourage active reading) and close reading to focus in on grammatical techniques are all part of a tiered system to exercise the range of reading skill required. Ongoing assessments are made to ensure that all pupils are making progress and support is given where required.
Extended practice is encouraged through a closely monitored home school reading agreement where parents communicate their children’s home reading through their daily planner. Reading in school is also recorded this way.
Throughout the school year, Carlton further promotes reading through events such as national reading days, inviting authors in to school, book clubs, Leeds Book Awards and book immersion events to ensure that our pupils remain enthused and excited about reading and so that reading maintains the high profile that it deserves.
Course Outline
What do Book Band levels mean? Reading books are graded by difficulty by reading levels known as Book Bands. Each Book Band has its own colour. The chart below gives an indication of the range of Book Band levels at which most children will be reading as they progress through primary school.
Useful Documents
Success for Boys10 Tips on Hearing Your Child ReadProgression of reading skills