Intent

Children at Stokenchurch Primary School will experience a rich and diverse range of literature, representing different authors, illustrators, genres and forms from different times, places and perspectives.  Through high quality, engaging and well-chosen texts, our children will explore a variety of ethnic, social and cultural contexts, building awareness of the world that they live in and enabling them to both see themselves reflected in what they read and to gain a greater understanding of others’ lives vicariously.  Through a diet that encompasses fiction, non-fiction and poetry in both whole books and extracts, our children will meet the challenge of the written word with stamina, curiosity and confidence, utilising a growing range of resources to overcome any obstacles.  It is our intention that our children will relish reading and choose to read independently.

Implementation

At Stokenchurch Primary, no ceilings are placed on what pupils can achieve in reading and there are no pre-conceptions about any pupil’s ability to make progress. We intend for all our children to read accurately and fluently with appropriate expression and to develop secure comprehension skills.  We believe that every child is a reader and are explicit about the power of reading to act as a social-leveller.  We engage regularly with our school community to celebrate reading and to promote reading for pleasure; understanding, valuing and promoting parental influence.  

At Stokenchuch, our children learn phonics and spelling from nursery onwards whilst being immersed in an extensive range of situations that involve reading for meaning using the DfE recognised Twinkl Phonics scheme.

Alongside our use of the Twinkl phonics scheme, we use the Twinkl phonics-led reading programme, Rhino Readers. The books are fully decodable and work through the phonics levels, alongside the children’s learning or new phonemes. They allow us to show complete fidelity to Twinkl Phonics and have a broad range of genres and stories.

As a school, we move through the books at the pace the children are learning phonics, meaning they should only come across the sounds and words they’ve already been taught. Having been written for the modern world, these books promote diversity and reflect children’s lives today.

Once children complete the 6 levels of Rhino Readers, there are books available from a range of reading schemes, including Oxford Reading Tree. They cover a range of text types and genres and display a range of fonts. The vocabulary in the texts develops in its complexity throughout the levels, as does the level of understanding needed to comprehend them.

As children become more competent in phonic awareness and understanding, in-class lessons concentrate on the ability to read, interpret and infer information from what is being read.  Lessons allow for comparisons to be made, differences to be identified and discussions to be held about authorial, personal and factual choices. Reading is supported through modelled and shared pieces that children are able to re-visit. 

Impact

Reading and writing are inextricably linked throughout our curriculum.  Children are exposed to texts using a variety of media, building their awareness of the impact that the written word can have.

Our children enjoy regular read aloud sessions and choose books to read themselves from a wide range on offer within class collections or the extensive school library. Reading buddies work across phases to promote a love of reading and engage our children on all levels.