Reading
Ensuring all children are able to read and enjoy reading is one of the key drivers of our curriculum. At Grove House, we understand that reading underpins everything we do and through reading, children are able to engage with other subjects in the school curriculum. We believe each child deserves to be supported to become a keen, capable and engaged reader and know that reading can also make a significant contribution to the wellbeing of every individual and society as a whole. We want all of our children to enjoy reading books by a range of authors, genres and text types which aim to develop wider vocabulary and broader knowledge about the world. At Grove House, we understand that books are a way for our children to see themselves in texts, to explore other cultural backgrounds and to better understand the diverse nature of the world they live in.
Reading areas:
All of our classrooms have a reading corner with a range of different texts for children to access. The selection of books available in reading areas is updated regularly.
Reading Corner
We also have a school library with a fantastic range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books to borrow. Each child has weekly library slots to choose books to take home and enjoy with their family. The library is also open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays after school for children to visit with their families. All children have a daily story time where their teacher will read to them; after all you are never too old to have a story read to you!
Reading in Early Years:
In Early Years, the focus is on learning to read through decoding. In Nursery, this involves developing good listening skills and being able to hear different sounds. In Reception, this involves learning the sounds the letters make and learning how to segment and blend the sounds into words. Please see our phonics page for additional information.
A focus throughout Early Years is ensuring all children are exposed to lots of different books. Our children in Nursery and Reception have daily story times as well as, daily singing and rhyme times. All these sessions give the children the opportunity to expand their vocabulary and understanding.
Early Reading
Children in Early Years and KS1 have 3 early reading sessions per week. The focus of these sessions are:
- Decoding words with already taught sounds
- Prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
Comprehension: teaching children to understand the text. All of these skills provide the foundations for future learning.
KS2: Our ‘Novel Study’ approach:
At the end of Year 2 and into Key Stage Two, we follow a novel study approach to reading. All the children in the class have daily Novel Study sessions where each child reads the same book and has their own copy of it. Texts have been carefully selected to ensure children are exposed to a range of different genres, for example: classic fiction, historical fiction, thrillers and mystery.
Discussion is at the heart of all reading lessons. Teachers facilitate discussions around the characters, plot and themes as well as making meaningful connections to prior learning in foundation subjects.
Novel study lessons also focus on developing children’s fluency. This is achieved by the teacher modelling how to read fluently and with expression. Children then practise reading in this way through strategies such as paired reading or ‘popcorn’ reading. Unfamiliar vocabulary is taught, explored and discussed in advance of reading the text.
In Novel study lessons, children are exposed to a range of different question types which they practise writing written responses to which supports children in developing comprehension skills.
We use other supplementary texts to support our novel study approach, these may be non-fiction or poetry texts.
Rhyme and Poetry Spine 2023 – 2024
Non fiction Spine (please see subject pages for additional supporting non-fiction texts)
Reading at home:
In Early Years and Key Stage One, your child will bring home a banded book and a library book. In Key Stage Two, your child will bring home an Accelerated Reading book and a library book. The banded books or Accelerated Reader books will match your child’s reading ability. These books can be read over and over again to build your child’s fluency. You might start by reading to them and as the week progresses, they read sessions to you. The library book is for you to enjoy as a family. Your child may not be able to read it, but you can read it to them. Both these books will be changed weekly.
Information for parents and carers:
We have lots of events for parents and carers taking place in school over the next year. Please have a look at our ‘Reading Newsletters’ for key dates and information!
Autumn Newsletters
Reading Newsletter – Autumn 2024 – KS2
Reading Newsletter – Autumn 2024 – KS1
Summer Newsletters
Reading Newsletter – Summer 2024 – KS1
Reading Newsletter – Summer 2024 – KS2
Spring Newsletters
Reading Newsletter spring 2025 EY and KS1
Reading Newsletter spring 2025 KS2
Recommended reads
We play lots of phonics games in school to help us learn and remember the sounds. Phonics Play has a great selection of free games which you can play at home. www.phonicsplay.co.uk
Storynory.com has a resource bank of audio stories for you to enjoy with your children and family. They release a free audio story every week and have everything from Little Red Riding Hood to Prince Bertie the Frog!