Our school follows the Little Wandle scheme for teaching phonics.
In EYFS and Key Stage 1 pupils reading books link directly to their phonics lessons.  In addition, pupils take a book home each week for reading for pleasure from the school library.

We use PM Benchmarking to book band our pupils in Lower Key Stage 2 and use predominantly the Oxford Reading Tree scheme, but also other book banded programmes to offer a wider breadth.
 
Word reading 
This teaches children to apply their phonic knowledge to read words, learn ‘tricky’ words that don’t follow obvious reading rules, read quickly and accurately, read aloud and to themselves and to re-read books to build up fluency and confidence.

Comprehension 
This teaches children to listen to, discuss and express their views, discuss the sequence of events in a story, recognise recurring language, understand non-fiction as well as fiction books, discuss favourite words and phrases, check that text makes sense and draw on background information, answering and asking questions and making inferences and predictions about what might happen next.

Reading in Key Stage 2
When children enter Key Stage Two, they take part in daily, whole class shared reading sessions. These sessions aim to break down texts into small 'chunks' and teach children how to infer and deduce meaning from a variety of texts.

If your child is not secure in Year 1 of the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Programme, they will continue to access these lessons daily in addition to shared reading. The reason for this is that children need secure phonic knowledge and reading fluency before they can begin to develop their comprehension skills to the full. 

As you are aware, your child reads daily in school during whole class and guided reading sessions. Your child may also have some extra reading support in school – through reading interventions. This is not anything to worry about and does not mean that your child is struggling or ‘falling behind’, but rather that we have recognised that they are beginning to make progress with their reading skills and want to give them an extra ‘push’ so that they can succeed even further!

At Whaley Thorns Primary School our aim is that all children can read and enjoy books. Please encourage as much reading at home as possible – let your child see you read, read signs and posters on the way to school, share a bedtime story together (and don’t worry if it is the same favourite book for three nights running!), and encourage your child to read to you – little and often is best! If you have any questions or concerns, then please do not hesitate to see a member of staff who will be happy to help in any way!

Happy reading!

Encourage Book Chat - teach your child to LOVE reading....

Reading isn't just about the word on a page, it is far more than that...
Reading is talking about pictures, noticing hidden clues...
Reading is how it makes you feel inside when you're snuggled up with a book...
Reading is entering into a world different from your own and having someone to share it with...
Reading is about making connections and being able to relate to characters and places.

Reading is...
​What is reading to you?