Subject leader: Miss Mulholland
Our Curriculum Drivers
Intent
Our aim at St Mary’s is to equip the children with the key skills that they need to become competent readers with a life-long love of reading.
Implementation
Guided Reading Carousel
The children in KS1 participate in a weekly Guided Reading Carousel. The activities in each Guided Reading Carousel enable the children to practise and apply key reading and writing skills including blending, segmenting, sentence writing, handwriting and reading for enjoyment. In small adult-led groups, children read decodable Rocket Phonics books that closely align to the sounds that they have been taught and each sessions focus on a range of the 5 KS1 reading domains:
Whole-Class Guided Reading
In Years 2 from summer term onwards and in KS2 we teach whole class Guided Reading lessons. This is taught 3 times per week to ensure that all children are exposed and have access to texts that they may otherwise find too challenging to read independently. The core text for Guided Reading lessons is an chapter book. Children are taught stand-alone Guided Reading lessons using a range on non-fiction and poetry texts throughout the year.
During Guided Reading lessons we focus on 7 key reading domains:
The progression of core Guided Reading texts that we follow is:
Reading is at the heart of the curriculum at St Mary’s. Every writing unit across the school focuses on a high-quality and engaging book. We actively promote wider reading through exposure to a variety of quality texts in other curriculum lessons. All children have access to a range of texts in class libraries and through listening to their class Super 7.
Impact
Our reading curriculum should ensure that children leave St Mary’s:
- With a life-long love of reading
- As competent readers who can access a wide range of literature
- Able to reference a range of different authors and texts
- Having made the best possible progress as a result of consistent, quality first teaching
How to support your child at home?
We believe the home school partnership is essential in developing a child’s reading engagement, ability and stamina. We hold ‘Pop in Reading Cafés’ before school every Wednesday for parents to read with their children, to help families make time for reading and help children to feel part of a reading community. Children are encouraged to read at least 3 times a week at home. Staff communicate with parents in home Reading Records to ensure that the children read regularly.
