Reading
Reading at Rufford
At Rufford, we strive to create a passionate reading community. We believe that every child should be given the tools to develop into an enthusiastic and confident reader.
We aim to share our love of reading with all of our children at Rufford and encourage them to choose books that are interesting, enjoyable, from varied authors and those that challenge. We encourage all pupils to continue their reading at home.
Children in EYFS and KS1 are taught to read through the Little Wandle Phonics Scheme and pupils from year 3 to 6 have discrete reading lessons each week including cross-curricular reading lessons and lessons that link to their shared 'Class Reader' texts. Reading lessons are also part of the sequences that lead into writing in English lessons.
Teachers nurture a love of books by introducing books with enthusiasm and enjoyment, promoting a sense of wonder and expectation as the book is explored. Teachers use quality texts in all aspects of their teaching across the curriculum and provide opportunities that extend and enrich the children’s learning.
Reading at home is an essential part of learning to read. Children are encouraged to read regularly at home and discuss texts with parents/carers.
Children have access to a wide variety of high quality texts in book corners and in the school library.
Early Reading
At Rufford, we prioritise the development of early reading by putting reading at the heart of everything we do. Through the use of robust and systematic teaching of phonics this provides an effective transition into independent reading, which then subsequently encourages our older pupils to read widely and deeply. Phonics is undoubtedly an essential tool here but as a school, we are aware that whilst phonic knowledge enables pupils to decode words, it does not teach them to know their meaning. We achieve this by providing opportunities for our pupils to sing, hear and join in with stories, to gain an understanding of what words actually mean through early, verbal comprehension. These solid and secure foundations are then built upon to support the children of Rufford to become fluent, confident readers and adopt a love for reading.
Phonics
We want to help all of our children at Rufford to become successful readers, who love reading. In order to decode (read) words, children are taught through a systematic phonic approach following the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised scheme which captivates our children. Daily, discrete phonics sessions are fast paced, interactive and challenging. Children are encouraged to apply their phonics skills across all curriculum areas (and have further opportunities to apply enhanced provisions in EYFS) We hold parent workshops for EYFS & KS1 to share our approach to the teaching of synthetic phonics. This is then followed up with a workshop about how to hear your child read at home which includes the chance to work with their child in school.
The Little Wandle website provides resources to help you support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters. There are also some useful videos so that you can see how phonics is taught at school and feel confident about supporting your child with reading at home. Use the link below to be redirected the the Little Wandle website.
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Reading Books
Children start taking home a 'Learning to read' reading book in EYFS. This follows the Little Wandle phonics books scheme, which we ensure are linked to the phonics phase and sounds that the children are currently learning to allow for application and retention. Year 1 and Year 2 pupils continue with these books until they move on to Book Banded books. Children can then choose from a wide range of books within each band and staff monitor to make sure there is the correct level of challenge.
Reading for Pleasure
At Rufford Primary School, we believe that reading should be a fundamental skill which is developed to support lifelong learning. Our aim is to develop and embed a strong, sustainable reading culture and reading community, where our confident and competent readers will foster a love of reading through exposure to rich and varied literature, in which they are empowered to exercise their freedom of choice and independence. From EYFS children take home a 'Reading for Pleasure' book as well as a 'Learning to Read' book. In this way we show children that reading is something they can share with others and that they can enjoy; we develop a love of reading. They can choose these books from the class book corner or from the books in our school library. We encourage children to recommend books to their peers and there is time for reading for pleasure in school each week.
In EYFS, parents are invited in every week to share a story with their child in class. We want to develop positive relationships with parents right from the start of their journey with us. We also want to support our parents to be able to help their child with reading at home.
Inspiring children to read for choice is their fundamental right, which underpins strong foundations for our pupils to be successful through the wider curriculum and beyond.
Since September 2022, Rufford has been part of the Open Universities Reading for Pleasure initiative. Our vision was to ensure that not only do our pupils become proficient readers, but they also develop a love of literature and take pleasure in reading.
Here is a presentation about Reading for Pleasure that we shared with our families:
Wider Reading Opportunities
At Rufford, we strive to enrich the children’s love and enjoyment for reading by providing wider opportunities throughout our curriculum and differing times during the school day.
We always join in with annual reading events such as World Book Day to encourage and inspire children to share their favourite books and authors, but to also discover new books and authors from which they have not yet read. We have online and in person visits from authors to spark children's interest and widen their knowledge of authors. This year, so far, the children have met JJ Arcanjo, Serena Patel and Frank Cottrell-Boyce.
Library Visits
We are determined to enhance our children's knowledge of our local community alongside their love of reading. For this reason, our Year 1 children visit our local Lye Library, Year 2 visit Stourbridge Library and Year 3 go to Birmingham Library. These visits are also part of our Rufford Route for Personal Development.
Our Reading Champions
Our Reading Champions are children who a passionate about reading and want to help other children discover books and read more often. They went through an application process to gain their role. These children are in charge of our Rufford Reading Trolley. The trolley contains lots of interesting fiction and non-fiction books for the children to enjoy on the playground. The Reading Champions are excited to share and encourage reading outside! The Reading Champions also lead reading for pleasure in the library during lunchtimes. They can be found in the school library area, helping the children around the school to find the perfect book for them. They can then enjoy their book on our comfy giant bean bags!