In EYFS & Key Stage One, phonics is taught through the Sounds-Write scheme. Children are taught as a whole class and extra session phonics sessions are held in the afternoons for children who require more support. Each member of staff teaching phonics has been fully trained in the scheme. In addition to phonics, the school uses a whole class approach to teaching comprehension skills. The teacher will share a book with the class and discuss the characters, plot etc. in order to develop a deeper understanding of what the story is about. As children progress into Key Stage Two, reading is taught as a whole class, using either whole class texts or extracts, to deliver the focus reading skill. These reading skills are developed throughout Key Stage Two, allowing children to study and appreciate more sophisticated texts across all genres.
Fostering a love of reading
Reading is celebrated and encouraged throughout the year at Grenville. Children can receive birthday books in celebration assemblies and annual events such as Breakfast with a Book are planned into the school calendar. Book Talk sessions are also planned to allow children a time to share books they love and expand their knowledge of authors.
Reading at Home
Developing fluency, confidence and understanding comes with regular practice. This is why our homework from Reception through to Year 6 focuses on the children completing FIVE reads at home each week. If they achieve this expectation, they will automatically go into a weekly reading raffle where they will have a chance to win a book voucher for the Buckingham University Book Shop who we work closely with. Decodable Readers If they are still developing decoding skills (being taught to read using phonics), the children will bring home a decodable book that will be closely matched to the phonics they are learning in school. This allows them to practice the skills that they have been taught recently. Class Readers Once children are decoding more fluently, they will move to class readers. Class readers are selected from a basket of books that have been carefully selected for the children. They are age appropriate and more challenging in length and content than the decodable readers. Library Books We want all our children to develop a love for reading which is why we have carefully selected books from the school main library for each class. This gets updated every term and the pupils can also ask for specific books. All the children can take home a book from the library to read at home. This can be read independently or shared with their adult and read to them.
Recommended Reads
We have put together a list of books that we recommend for each age group. Click on the links below to access a reading list for each year group.
