King's Ford Infant School And Nursery

Reading at King’s Ford Infant School and Nursery

Parents PowerPoint

 Please see the PowerPoint, that outlines our approach to reading. If you have any queries then please do not hesitate to contact your class teacher. 

Our Intent            

At King’s Ford Infant School and Nursery, we believe that all children have the fundamental right to a broad and balanced curriculum that provides a range of opportunities for pupils to learn. We see Reading as the key to successfully opening the door to further learning across the whole curriculum and developing a life-long learning skill. We are committed to providing opportunities for all pupils to gain an enjoyment of reading and achieve the key early reading and comprehension skills needed to become a proficient reader, and to ensure that these are transferred to all aspects of life and learning. We endeavour to ensure that children develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards their Reading that will stay with them forever. 

Approach to Phonics

As a school we have adopted the Read, Write Inc Phonics. approach to aid the teaching of early reading. Read, Write Inc. Phonics is a literacy programme developed by Ruth Miskin and published by Oxford University Press.

The programme teaches children letter sounds and the letters that represent them, as well as how to form those letters. The children then read books only using the letters that they have learnt and a small number of taught sight vocabulary (‘tricky words’) This enables children to have lots of success when reading and helps to build up their reading confidence.

The programme teaches children to read sets of sounds and blend these together to read words. The books that they read at school will only contain the sounds that they have already been taught. This is to ensure that the children learn these quickly and can confidently read them.

Programme Order:

Set 1 Speed Sounds: m a s d t i n p g o c k u b f e l h r j v y w z x and sounds with two letters, taught as special friends sh th ch qu ng nk ck

Set 2 Speed Sounds: ay ee igh ow oo oo ar or air ir ou oy

Set 3 Speed Sounds: ea oi a–e i–e o–e u–e aw are ur er ow ai oa er ire ear ure

Your child will then be taught to read words containing these sounds by sounding blending e.g. m-a-t mat, c-a-t cat, f-i-sh fish, s-p-l-a-sh splash. At school they will read Read Write Inc. Phonics story books in accordance with the set that they have been taught.

Assessment 

Each half term your child is assessed  in school by the school’s Reading Leader and they are then placed into a group according to their sound knowledge. If we feel your child is not making expected progress, they will undertake extra sessions within school time to ensure that they meet the required standard for their year group.

Reading skills

To further enhance Reading teaching and the development of additional reading skills, all classes in Key Stage One will share a whole class text each week. This will be based upon the DERIC model to develop five key reading skills, which are as follow;

D for decode - this is the sounding out and blending of words and then becoming more confident with reading words on sight.

E for explain - asking the children to explain the meaning of words and being able to explain what is happening in the text they have read.

R - for retrieve - asking the children questions where the answer can be found in the text or pictures. For example, how many cups are on the table? What colour is the bear's hat?

I - for interpret - the children are to use their inference skills to use clues in the text and what they already know to make suggestions about what they have read.  We encourage the children to use because in their answers to evidence their knowledge of the text. For example, why do you think the bear was crying?

C - for choice - asking the children questions about why the author has chosen to lay out the text in a particular way or whether a similar theme has been used in other books written by  the same author.

Reading Engagement

Through our daily phonics sessions your child is heard read every day by an adult within their targeted group sessions. Each child is given a Phonics reading book to take home and share with you. This book is closely matched to their phonetical knowledge and is designed to develop and build upon the de-coding skills already taught in school. Regular reading at home can be recorded in the home school reading diary. Within the diary is a list of sounds for you to practice as well as the common exception words (as stated in the National Curriculum) for each year group.

It is important to us that every child also gains a love of reading. We provide opportunities to share a range of stories, poems, rhymes, and non-fiction texts, enabling the development of children’s vocabulary, language comprehension and enjoyment. This is why we ask that alongside hearing your child read,  we would like you to share a range of interesting and exciting pictures books with your child. Research shows that children who are read to regularly by an adult have a greater vocabulary and develop a love of reading.

Please click here to watch a short video on how to say the sounds.