'Leaders place the utmost importance on reading. They recognise reading as a key skill for life and a gateway to access the whole curriculum. Staff quickly assess pupils’ reading ability as soon as they join the school. They provide individual support for any pupils who need it. Pupils read books that match their reading ability. They are justifiably proud of their reading achievements.' Ofsted 2023

The Reading Curriculum is carefully planned by subject specialists to meet all needs. The Reading Curriculum is delivered by tutors in our 35 minute daily reading lesson.

Activities

Monday

Word of the Week and ‘Monday Masterclass’, focusing on developing vocabulary, spelling, grammar and punctuation skills.

Tuesday

Fiction read and respond. Students will explore an extract from a fiction text alongside pre and post reading vocabulary and questions designed to support the development of comprehension skills.

Wednesday

Non-fiction read and respond. Students will explore an extract from a non-fiction text alongside pre and post reading vocabulary and questions designed to support the development of comprehension skills.

Thursday

Spellings and reading for pleasure. In this session tutors select reading age appropriate spellings for students. They then test them on these words the following week. Students also look to use this vocabulary in a sentence, to aid their developing comprehension.

Friday

Retrieval and reading for pleasure. In this session students recap key information they have explored during the week. There is also time in this session for a class read, to promote fluency skills.

We acknowledge that pupils use a range of different communication methods in our school and ensure these are incorporated, promoted and celebrated in our curriculum; for example, our ‘Word of the Week’ is complemented by a Makaton Word of the Week.

At the beginning of the academic year, pupils will sit the NGRT online reading test. The NGRT is a ‘robust and accurate test of a student's reading ability’ which provides an overall reading age, and allows staff to see how pupils' decoding skills compare to their understanding of what they have read. The test will be repeated in the summer term to accurately measure progress.

Pupils identified as requiring extra reading support will receive interventions and support as appropriate from our dedicated Reading Support Lead. Year 7 pupils with a reading age below 6 will follow the B Pathway in English and initially follow the Fresh Start programme until their reading age is above 7 - a point at which pupils can read a text with some comprehension.

Pupils with a reading age below 6 in years 8-13 will also follow the Fresh Start programme during tutor time reading. English TA support will be available for these pupils.

Pupils graduating from the Fresh Start programme may require further support with comprehension and inference; this will be addressed in their English lessons and resources and support will be provided for tutors and LSAs.

Direct Instruction Precision Teaching is an intervention strategy used alongside Fresh Start, particularly for pupils with dyslexia. The strategy works by teaching pupils to recognise words on sight, aiding retention through saying the words aloud and ‘laddering’.

The impact of DIPT interventions has been phenomenal, you can find out more about this in the resources section below.

For our most able MAP pupils, the dedicated MAP library provides a range of more complex texts, catering to special interests.

For our most able readers in the main school, the ‘free reader’ section of the library has been updated with a range of new and challenging texts to broaden knowledge and vocabulary.

Parents and carers guide to supporting each reading stage

1. Phonics and Decoding

Direct Instruction Precision Teaching or ‘DI/PT’ is an alternative way to support the initial decoding stage of reading. The focus here is on teaching high frequency vocabulary so that students can ‘sight’ read, this helps to improve their accuracy and fluency. 

In this information pack you will find step by step instructions for delivering DI/PT, as well as a list of high frequency words and the ‘ladder’ you can use when teaching target vocabulary.

2. Developing Comprehension Skills

Once students are able to read whole words and sentences, it is important to work on their ability to understand what they are reading. We call this comprehension: the ability to understand and respond to the texts that you are reading. 

You can support this at home using some of the following strategies:

This could be based on what will happen next in a story, what an article could be about based on the headline or what clues the book cover can give about the narrative.

• What do you think the cover suggests about the story? 
• What do you think will happen next in the story? 
• What does the headline suggest the article might be about? 
• What do you think you will learn/find out?

As you read, you will come across words and information they may not fully understand. Make sure you pause and check your child’s understanding, thoughts or ideas about something they’ve read regularly to ensure that they understand what they are reading.

• What do you think… means? 
• If neither of us know what it means, how could we find out? 
• What do you think the writer is suggesting here? 
• Which pieces of information do you think are most important and why? 
• Is the writer saying … or …? 
• Why do you think that?

As you read, you will come across words and information they may not fully understand. Make sure you pause and check your child’s understanding, thoughts or ideas about something they’ve read regularly to ensure that they understand what they are reading.

• What do you think… means? 
• If neither of us know what it means, how could we find out? 
• What do you think the writer is suggesting here? 
• Which pieces of information do you think are most important and why? 
• Is the writer saying … or …? 
• Why do you think that?

3. Inference

Inference skills are skills that allow you to make guesses and estimates for additional information, based on the information you already have. Inference is different to comprehension as we have to look for hidden meanings, this is sometimes called ‘reading between the lines’. 

Inferring ideas, or guessing what the author means, is part of the joy of reading. Every time we read a book and get involved in the suspense of the plot, guessing what is going to happen next, we are using inference skills - and this is what makes reading books so fun.

You can support inference at home using some of the following strategies:

• Consider other situations where we can use inference skills, this is not just a reading skill. Questions such as: ‘what do you think?’, 'why did they react like that?’, ‘what clues helped you figure that out?’, can be used to support this kind of discussion.

• Explain your thinking: you can help your child develop inference skills by explaining how you have come to certain conclusions. For example, I can tell that she is unhappy because her face is red and there are tears on her cheeks…’

4. Fluency and building cultural capital

Reading fluency is the ability to read texts automatically and accurately, it is also the ability to pause in the correct places and place emphasis on the correct words within a sentence. 

You can support fluency at home using some of the following strategies:

• Model fluent reading. Start by reading a paragraph of text and then ask your child to read the same section back to you. You could use audio books for the same purpose, these are often dramatic and engaging to ‘hook’ the listener, so act as effective fluency models.

• Try reading out loud at the same time, this is called ‘choral reading’ and can help developing readers to understand what fluent reading sounds like. 

Cultural capital refers to the knowledge, social skills and understanding individuals have of the world. Reading a range of different texts is a great way to develop cultural awareness, put simply, it is about developing understanding of the world outside of our immediate experiences.

Reading: General advice

• Positivity is key! It doesn't really matter what your child is reading, as long as they are reading. This might mean they find a book, collection of short stories or even a graphic novel, but it also might mean that they find a range of online articles, websites or magazines they enjoy reading. 

• Sharing your experiences about why reading is important for life and work, whilst being mindful not to add to any negative feelings, can help children to see that everyone struggles with certain things but it’s worth persevering. 

• Avoid reading being seen as a chore through requests such as ‘if you read for 15 minutes, you can…’. Whilst this may work for some young people, it is unlikely to lead to reading being seen as an enjoyable activity. 

• Help your child to be proactive in their wider reading. For example, if they are covering World War II, explore age-appropriate texts on this through poetry, online articles or novels.

If you have any questions or need any additional support, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Many thanks for your support with reading at home. 

Kat Durrands

Head of English

k.durrands@maplewell.leics.sch.uk