How we teach your children to read and write

Reading is central to the whole curriculum.  We teach children to read using a systematic approach and tailoring it to your child’s individual needs and learning styles. Alongside teaching the basics of reading we do lots of reading to the children to develop a rich vocabulary and love of books.  Our main Reading Scheme is Oxford Reading Tree. This is supported by Floppy’s phonics – an online reading and phonics programme. We also will introduce your child to a wider range of texts when they are confident and ready. We believe that reading is important throughout primary school. In KS2, reading occurs as daily independent, shared or guided reading sessions as well as part of English and Cross-curricular learning. Any child who is finding reading difficult is give additional support with programmes such as Reading Intervention. We have the computer based IDL for additional on-line support with reading and writing words. This is particularly effective with Dyslexic pupils. Reading is really at the heart of what we do in school.

Phonics

Phonics is taught using a programme called Letters and Sounds. This is a systematic phonics programme where the children master one stage before moving onto the next. Your child will have a daily phonics session from Nursery to Year 2.

The Oxford Owl website has lots of information about phonics and how you can help your child.

How can you help at home? 

There are two things that will make the biggest difference to your child’s progress in reading. Every night:

1. Read a bedtime story to your child.
Your child will bring home lovely books from their class story corner. Read these stories to your child – don’t ask them to read the story themselves as this is beyond their current reading stage.

2. Listen to your child read the early reading book we send home.
Your child will bring home a  book at the correct level for them to read.  Praise your child for how well they read it – celebrate what a great reader they are. They’ll sometimes bring home previous stories they have read too or a non-fiction book at the stage they are reading. Re-reading stories develops their fluency on every reading.