Reading

Curriculum Leader: Miss Emma Robinson and Miss Emily Marrows

Intent: At Theddlethorpe Academy, we prioritise reading as a key life skill and are dedicated to enabling our children to become lifelong readers. We strive to embed a culture of reading into everything that we do, providing opportunities for children to read both independently and aloud as well as allowing them the chance to discuss and recommend books that they have read to their peers. Our reading challenge encourages children to read a variety of texts at least three times a week at home; engaging parents and carers in the children’s reading. Reading in our school begins with rigorous teaching to support the children’s phonetical understanding during their Foundation Stage education, which is embedded through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds. They develop their knowledge of key reading skills which are embedded through individual and group reading activities. By the time children leave the school, our aim is that they will be competent and enthusiastic readers with experiences of a variety of literature. We aim to provide a reading culture that enables children to enjoy reading and being read to.

Early reading is taught using the DfE approved ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds’ scheme. As the children progress through the school, key skills are taught and developed through guided reading linking with our English units of work. Children are exposed to a variety of texts to further enhance their knowledge. We promote reading for pleasure as part of our reading curriculum and children are encouraged to develop their own preferences of genres and authors. Reading is regularly assessed and tracked and termly tests are also used to support teachers with their planning.

Enrichment activities are plan for throughout the year where the children have the opportunity to celebrate books and authors, mixed-age paired reading, read to visitors, visit the local library and read for enjoyment.

Alongside this, we use Milestones for teachers and Curriculum Leaders to monitor coverage and track progress across the curriculum, ensuring appropriate sequencing is in place. We use the milestones created by Chris Quigley Education, in conjunction with our planning to ensure the children develop their knowledge and skills as they move from Early Years through to Key Stage 1 and 2.