Reading

The Porthleven Way of Reading

Learning to Read. Reading to Learn. Reading for Life.

We envision a world where the simple act of picking up a book sparks excitement and purpose, where children choose independently with confidence and curiosity.

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum, where we provide and promote reading through the use of highquality texts chosen with the wider curriculum in mind.

Our staff are reading role models in the way they discuss and promote books. They serve as gateways to new genres, interests, and authors and build a deeper understanding of vocabulary and narratives.

Learning to Read

Our vision is to kindle a passion for a love of reading. They recognise how reading influences writing and use their knowledge to inspire them.

Early Reading

At Porthleven school, we teach every child to read with accuracy, fluency and confidence, engaged with reading from the earliest age.

Through highly trained staff, early reading is taught using Read Write Inc. from their very first day in school. This systematic approach uses blending and segmenting expertise, to become confident, accomplished, fluent readers. Fluency includes automaticity, comprehension and decoding. Children will reread books at the level that is linked to their RWI level. We also provide books for family reading that further develop vocabulary, comprehension and reading for pleasure that is more ambitious. Children also have the experience of a broad range of quality picture books, fiction and non-fiction texts, to develop and deepen their knowledge and understanding of the world.

Children in EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 will take part in high-quality daily phonics sessions. Children participate by listening and responding, and by practicing and applying the core fundamental skills to build their word
recognition and read them with growing speed and accuracy. Children practice their reading with decodable books that run alongside the program. The pace and consistency of the programme is a key element to developing reading skills for children which is integral to access the rest of the school curriculum.

During their RWI reading journey, children will learn to recognise, match and read letter sounds: orally blending sounds to make words. As their confidence grows, so does their ability to blend mentally.

Children learn to recognise and read words that do not correspond to the regular sounds taught (exception, high frequency or ‘alien’ words) and use their understanding of the alphabetic code to support them in making sense of the text. All pupils need to understand the alphabetic code if they are to become accurate readers. Some pupils may take a little longer to secure and embed knowledge of the alphabetic code.

Reading to Learn

Reading in Year 2 and KS2

At a time when children reach a stage where they are confident in blending and segmenting, word recognition and growing in fluency, they are then ready to further develop their comprehension and build their phonological awareness. Comprehension and reading are taught skills using the VIPERS approach.

This relates directly to the National Curriculum and along with the summative assessments completed at Porthleven School, provides a clear route to the specific development of the individual child.

Reading sessions involve four days a week reading the class novels, and one day a week looking at non-fiction texts. These texts ensure the delivery of the wider curriculum, historical and cultural events, influential people, and less conventional texts, for example, lyrics from musicals or songs. All novels and texts are chosen with a clear rationale, showing progression that is appropriate to each year group and clearly defined curriculum links or links to the wider world and global, environmental, cultural or topical concerns. The Reading Spine is revisited annually to provide the most up-to-date recommendations.

Year 3 Example

During each reading session, teachers model prosody, strengthening the children’s capacity to be confident readers. Choral reading is used to promote fluency and engage children in the rhythm of reading. Vocabulary is explicitly taught and revisited in context.

The teacher introduces a specific VIPERS domain and a small range of precise questions are chosen. Answers are demonstrated before independent activities are completed, using a systematic approach from guided to independent comprehension practice. All lessons follow the same systematic approach. The class novels are chosen so that they are increasingly more complex as the year progresses.

Vocabulary is carefully selected and linked to Tier 2 Words (found in many content areas, but often require an element of teaching) and Tier 3 (subject-specific). There is a maximum of three words in total. New vocabulary is signposted when reading so that the children have a clear understanding of its use in context.

At times, children are provided with sentence stems and other scaffolding techniques to support access to recording their answers. There are a range of challenge questions where reactivation of previously taught domains is presented to ensure breadth of experience. Children record their answers based on reading content in their book.

Children use Accelerated Reader levelled books when reading independently or Free Readers, which are not levelled. Teachers support children in their reading techniques, understanding of comprehension, and questioning. It is during this time that children begin to recognise what genre or authors they like to read and why. Teacher discussions help broaden the child’s reading choices and support finding similar books of their favoured genre.

Accelerated Reader assesses the reading levels and gives them guidance on the books that would be more accessible to read. Quizzes can be taken on books that they have chosen to read to ensure that the books match the children’s reading abilities. Parents can follow their child’s progress by accessing the program via the AR App. The school is committed to purchasing new titles and works closely with the English Hub and Open University (Reading for Pleasure) for the latest recommendations.

Children, at times, need additional time and support to make expected progress. The following strategies and systems are in place to facilitate further development:

• RWI ‘top up’ EYFS and Key Stage 1

• ‘Nessy’ – online Spelling and Reading program – KS2

• Herts Fluency Reading Project – 8-week programme, 6-8 children from Year 2 to Year 6. Builds on reading fluency with high-quality text.

• Accelerated Reader ensures that books are well-matched to children’s reading ability

• Star reading assessments are used to target improvement in teaching

• Parent workshops, video links with phonics support

Reading for Life

Reading at Porthleven is evident in all areas: we offer an abundance of experiences and opportunities.

• Local author visits and workshops for all key stages

• Recommended reads in the weekly newsletter

• Book fairs every term

• Access to quality reads in every classroom that are regularly changed by class librarians.

• Virtual author events promoting a wide range of diverse and cultural texts.

• Central library which is fully accessible at all times.

• Special events – sponsored reads, assemblies, local library competitions.

• Community reading with Age Concern – in and out of school.

• Themed reading days – World Book Day, Poetry Week, wider curriculum events

• The battle of the books.

• Staff Share Board – favourite reads and latest book reviews.

• MyON – reading library at home through Accelerated Reader

• BorrowBox – free online Cornwall library service on all Google Classrooms

• Parent invites to reading workshops – Learning to Read and Reading to Learn focuses.

• Parent Early Reading videos shared on Google Classroom

• Pupil recommendations on their favourite reads

• Branching out Posters – Supporting book recommendations for children who have been hooked by a particular series or author and want similar reads.

Our children believe:

“When you read a book, you are somewhere different and you view the world through someone else.” (Year 5)
“I love Battle of the Books.”(Year 1)
“I love picturing other characters and losing yourself in a book. You get to use your imagination.” (Year 3)
“Once I get really into a book, I just can’t put it down.” (Year 2)
“I love reading Alex Rider because the story grabs you. They’re full of action-packed missions and you feel you’re part of MI6.”
(Year 6)
“Borrowbox has helped me love reading again. I can listen and read at the same time, which means I can read what I enjoy”
(Year 6)